Wigan Athletic boss hails 'very professional performance' after key intervention off the bench

Latics had the luxury of playing against 10 men for all but four minutes after former DW favourite Chey Dunkley was red-carded for hauling down Thelo Aasgaard on the edge of the Shrewsbury box.

And his old club took full advantage with a comfortable victory to lift them out of the relegation zone.

Stephen Humphrys continued his fine form with the opening goal on 34 minutes, a right-foot strike from 20 yards that flew past ex-Latics Academy goalkeeper Marko Marosi.

Shrews defender Mal Brenning turned a Jordan Jones cross against his own post as the visitors held on until half-time.

But the onslaught continued and, after Humphrys had headed wide from a yard and Jones had bent a superb strike against the bar, the win was secured midway through the second half.

Less than 60 seconds after entering the fray, Callum McManaman crossed for fellow substitute Lang to head home his second goal in four days - his first in open play in the league since September last year.

Latics goalkeeper Sam Tickle barely made a save worthy of the name as Maloney's men saw out the victory with minimum fuss.

"I thought it was a very professional performance," said the Latics boss.

"Obviously it was very hard for Shrewsbury when you go down to 10 men that early.

"I thought we started the game very well, and then the game completely changes.

"I was just really happy with how professional we were, because the sending off changed our outlook dramatically.

"Give Shrewsbury credit actually, even with 10 men.

"It changes how we play, the spaces become bigger, and we have to make them even bigger for them, which is probably the reason why we created so many chances.

"We had to change how we played in the second half, we had to become more aggressive.

"I was really pleased with the guys who came on in the second half, especially Callum McManaman, who brought that mentality back just at a time when I thought the game was starting to drift.

"This kind of game can drift, and become a lot harder, even when you have the man advantage."