Point gained rather than two dropped for Wigan Athletic, insists Paul Cook

Wigan Athletic boss Paul Cook admitted to feeling relief rather than jubilation after Joe Garner netted a dramatic late leveller against rock-bottom Ipswich Town.
Joe Garner equalises against IpswichJoe Garner equalises against Ipswich
Joe Garner equalises against Ipswich

Despite Ipswich being reduced to 10 men on 25 minutes, after Jonas Knudsen was red-carded for pulling back Leon Clarke, Latics fell behind just after the half-hour mark.

Chey Dunkley was adjudged to have fouled Colin Quaner in the box, and former Wigan loanee Will Keane converted from 12 yards.

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After being booed off at the break, Latics were much better in the second period, sparked by the introduction off the bench of Nick Powell, Callum McManaman and Garner.

And with the clock having ticked to 90, Garner was in the right place at the right time to steer home Reece James’ cross, to maintain the five-point gap to the drop zone.

With a game in hand over their rivals in the bottom six, Cook’s glass remains steadfastly half-full.

“It has to be a point gained, it has to be - for sure,” acknowledged the Latics chief.

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“You’d have to say it’s a feeling of relief, from the situation we found ourselves in.

“I thought Ipswich started the game well, they came with quite an attacking intent.

“The sending-off has a large bearing on the game, and you think the likelihood is we should go on and win the game.

“Ipswich then get a goal pretty quickly, and it’s set up then where they defend very deep and narrow - and rightly so.

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“They frustrated us for long periods, and I didn’t feel we really looked like scoring, to be truthful.

“At the end of the day it’s a point, it’s not what we wanted, but the relief at the end was there for all to see.

“It would have been lovely for us to have pinched a winner at the death, which we wouldn’t have deserved.

“But sometimes when things go for you, they go for you.

“Unfortunately it wasn’t to be.”