Shrewsbury 1 Wigan Athletic 0

Neither side had come into this game having had their colours lowered so far, and it was the Shrews who edged it over the 90 minutes, taking the spoils thanks to Stefan Payne’s goal just after the midway point in the first half.

The home side had earlier come within a lick of paint of taking the lead when Shaun Whalley’s effort was superbly tipped on to the bar and over at point-blank range by Jamie Jones, making his league debut for the club in Christian Walton’s absence.

Latics had chances themselves, but Ivan Toney could only head against the outside of the post from Nathan Byrne’s cross in the second half.

But not even the introduction off the bench of Will Grigg, Ryan Colclough and Gary Roberts could find Latics a way back in.

And the frustrating afternoon was summed up seconds AFTER the full-time whistle, when Colclough was shown a straight red card for uttering foul and abusive language in the direction of referee Mark Heywood.

Having sat out last weekend because of the international fixtures, Latics were quickly back into their stride, with Nick Powell forcing an early save from Town goalkeeper Dean Henderson.

The visitors came closer still on 13 minutes when Michael Jacobs weaved his way in from the right hand side, only to see his shot beat Henderson - but find only the side-netting.

Town were playing some decent stuff of their own to be fair, and Latics were indebted to goalkeeper Jones for keeping the scoreline blank on 19 minutes.

Whalley looked a certain scorer from 12 yards out, bang in front of goal, only for Jones to thrust up a hand and tip the ball on to the bar and over for a corner.

Jones was helpless six minutes later, however, when Payne volleyed home from close range after Alex Bruce appeared to have been fouled as he tried to clear.

Wigan’s attempts at an immediate response were dealt with by the home defence, with Henderson saving from Powell, who also fired over from a 25-yard free-kick.

It could have been even worse for Latics on the stroke of half-time, when Alex Rodman found himself in a great position only to shoot over the top.

Credit to Latics, they came out swinging at the start of the second period, with Jacobs - again looking the man most likely - firing low but across the face of goal.

Jacobs then cut in from the left-hand side and found Lee Evans, who shot tamely at the goalkeeper from 10 yards.

Latics threatened again on the hour mark when Byrne’s cross was headed against the outside of the post by the diving Toney, who was copping heaps of abuse from the home fans who’d once cheered him during a previous loan spell.

That was Toney’s last involvement, with Gavin Massey also making way in a double substitution that saw Colclough and Will Grigg enter the fray.

Grigg was immediately involved, and it required the intervention of Henderson racing off his line to clear Town’s lines.

Gary Roberts replaced Powell for the last 14 minutes, and the new man - making his debut - was given free-kick duties on the edge of the box after Evans was caught late.

However, Henderson was able to parry the ball away - albeit in an unorthodox fashion - for a corner, which was cleared.

Grigg saw another effort well blocked by a despairing defence, that was able to hold firm against a Latics attack that was below par across the board - handing Paul Cook his first defeat as Latics boss.