No-one outside the town thinks we can do it, but we can - Wigan Athletic boss

Max Power's sixth-minute penalty gave Latics a crucial 1-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers at the DW Stadium.

It means the gap to safety has been cut to five points, with seven matches remaining.

Annoyingly, that gap would be just two points of Latics hadn't been deducted three points for persistent late payment of the wages.

That deduction has led to most outsiders feeling there are now only two relegation places to be decided.

Maloney, though, says there are more than enough points still to play for to keep the faith.

"Obviously the three-point deduction has really hurt us," he said.

"But as I said in the lead-up to this game, I still think there'll be enough moments in all of the remaining games for us to get something out of them.

"I still genuinely think we have a chance of staying up.

"I know probably most people outside of Wigan won't have that opinion.

"But we'll keep on going right until the last game, that's for sure.

"We’re still alive and there’s still life in us. We’ll go right to the death.”

Saturday's win means Latics have now picked up 12 points from their 11 games since Maloney took charge - which, over the course of the campaign, would be a points-per-game ratio that would secure safety.

And the Scot is 'happy' with the way things are coming together at both ends of the field.

"It feels like a pretty big win at the moment, and I'm really happy," he said.

"I was really happy with the way we played in the first half and, if I'm being really strict, I'd like us to be even more aggressive in some of the situations we got ourselves into.

"We had to defend more in the second half, and I think we saw both sides of the game overall.

"No matter what result we'd have got today, I think everyone can see what we're trying to do and the way we're trying to play.

"We just have to make sure in those big moments in both boxes that we make them count.

"I thought Ben Amos made some great saves, and we saw some nice touches in their final third, albeit I'd like to see even more.

"You can see we're slowly getting there, and hopefully we can keep that going for the last seven matches.

"We'll be going out to try to win every game, and let's see where that takes us."

The match-deciding penalty was given away by former Latics man Leon Balogun, who fouled Danel Sinani just inside the box.

And the Rangers centre-back almost put through his own goal just before half-time, only for goalkeeper Seny Dieng to spare his blushes.

Latics were unable to put the game beyond their opponents, and Rangers almost levelled right at the death.

A corner was half-cleared to Kenneth Paal, whose 25-yard volley was creeping inside the post before being tipped away by Amos.

There was still time in the six added minutes for Latics to almost double their lead, when James McClean took Thelo Aasgaard’s pass only to see his shot touched round the post.