REPORT: Birmingham City 2 Wigan Athletic 1 - Stoppage-time heartache denies 10-man Tics

The home side were off to a flier and took the lead with 18 minutes on the clock.

Willum Willumsson timed his pass to perfection, splitting the Latics defence that fatally stopped, expecting an offside flag, and Alfie May slotted home past Sam Tickle.

Only a brilliant last-ditch challenge from Luke Chambers prevented Willumsson having a free shot on goal to make it 2-0, before Latics challenged for the first time, Aasgaard seeing a powerful header well saved by Bailey Peacock-Farrell.

With Steven Sessegnon taking over from James Carragher at half-time, Latics defended well to stay in the game until the hour mark, Jason Kerr producing a stunning block to save the blushes of team-mate Dion Rankine, whose fluffed clearance had presented a gift for Willumsson.

And new acquisitions Jensen Weir and Dale Taylor – both signed in the final week of the transfer window – took over from Baba Adeeko and Joe Hugill for the final third, to give the visitors fresh legs up top.

Within six minutes, the visitors were level, with Aasgaard's seemingly harmless shot from 20 yards somehow finding its way through Peacock-Farrell and into the back of the home goal.

Latics could and perhaps should have taken the lead, when Matt Smith exchanged passes with Rankine, only to slide his shot well wide from inside the home box.

That was the pair's last involvement, with Scott Smith and Callum McManaman entering the fray - but it was this extra change that caused an issue in the closing stages.

Sessegnon pulled up lame with 10 minutes to go, unable to carry on and, with Latics having made all their substitutions, they had to close out the game a man down.

And their luck ran out in the first of nine added minutes, when Scott Wright took delivery of a backheel from a Birmingham corner and rifled the ball into the roof of the net past a helpless Tickle.