Wigan Athletic boss on Leyton Orient draw - 'It definitely wasn't pretty'
Ryan Lowe admitted Wigan Athletic's goalless draw at play-off-chasing Leyton Orient 'wasn't pretty' - but it was a 'fantastic point' in their fight to secure safety as quickly as possible.
Latics' xG - expected goals - figure of 0.02 showed how little of a threat they posed to the home side throughout the 90 minutes.
But at the other end, the defence provided a brick wall in front of Sam Tickle, who had a watching brief for much of the game.
On the couple of occasions Orient did manage to see ythe whites of his eyes, the Young England star was on hand to secure a 15th clean sheet of the campaign.
The result moves Latics to six points ahead of the relegation zone - with a game in hand - with only seven games to play now.
"It definitely wasn't pretty, but it's definitely an important point," assessed Lowe. "You look at Leyton Orient, going for the play-offs, I praised them and their manager before the game.
"And you only have to look at their bench...bringing on a player (former Latics loanee Charlie Kelman) who's scored 15 goals this season.
"We went about our business a little bit differently today, we went more solid defensively, because we knew it was a tough place to come.
"Yes, we rode our luck, but sometimes that's what happens. Yes it wasn't pretty, yes we'd like a bit more, but they're a good team.
"We didn't create as many chances as we'd have liked, but we know that anyway, and that's what we need to get better at.
"I've got no question we will eventually, but because of injuries, and people out of the team, and out of the squad, trying to create is a daily theme for us. But this is a fantastic point, a clean sheet, and it helps us on the way to where we want to get to.
"We looked solid throughout, and fair play to all the lads for that - from the front to the back. I'd have taken a point all day long before coming here, so to get that is very pleasing."
In a first half desperately devoid of any kind of excitement or entertainment, Harry McHugh pulled a shot wide from the edge of the area.
The Latics fans in the away end responded with a chant of 'we've had a shot'.
At the other end, the home side dominated possession and territory without really threatening to break the deadlock.
Maleace Asamoah Jnr replaced Jonny Smith at the break, with Jon Mellish taking over from McHugh shortly after the restart.
The pattern of the game continues, however, with Orient looking the more likely to win it without ever showing the quality needed to do so.
An awful shot from left-back Jack Currie turned into a superb ball into Azeem Abdulai, who stuck out a leg out and diverted the ball a yard wide of the post.
Then, Dilan Markanday played the ball into Diallang Jaiyesimi, who had to score from six yards, but barely made contact, allowing Tickle - already on the ground - to lash it clear.
There was one final scare in stoppage-time, with a dangerous cross coming in from the Orient left, but James Carragher managed to help the ball behind.