Wigan Athletic chief happy 'to see side I haven't seen in weeks' at Shrewsbury

Latics bounced back from successive defeats to Exeter and Oxford by digging out a superb win on the road in Shropshire.

Matt Smith popped up with the only goal 12 minutes after the restart, but the result was in doubt all the way to the end - including ELEVEN minutes of added time - as the Shrews did everything but score in the last half hour.

It was literally bodies on the line stuff, as Shrewsbury pumped cross after cross into the box, but the visitors were not to be denied a vital victory.

"I thought the players were brilliant, I really did," said Maloney, who watched the game from the stands after picking up his third booking of the season in midweek.

"The ones that started, and also the ones who came on, came up with some amazing blocks to stop shots going in on our goal.

"When that 11 minutes of added time goes up, we needed the fans to help us over the line, and they deserve a mention for the way they never stopped singing.

"Sometimes wins like that can be even more pleasing than the ones where you score a few goals.

"I've spoken a few times about the way I want the team to play, and the DNA of the club.

"But I probably get more pleasure from a game like that when players are putting their bodies on the line for the club and their team-mates."

Despite his side moving eight points clear of the drop zone, Maloney was still not totally satisfied.

"This is where we have to be really honest with each other, because it was good up to a point...and that's still not good enough," he added.

"When we play as well as we did in the first 10 or 20 minutes, we have to be in front.

"Maybe not so much the chances we had, but we should have created more of them, given the amount of possession we had.

"We have to be more ruthless when we break through teams in the middle of the pitch, and we have to hurt them more.

"We didn't do that in the first half, and I wasn't happy with what I saw.

"It was the complete opposite in the second half, and I haven't seen that side of us in the last couple of weeks.

"All the credit goes to the players, who were all outstanding."

Latics had a first-half escape when Jason Kerr’s slip allowed Daniel Udoh to nip in.

The Shrews man went to ground as Kerr recovered and attempted to play it back to Sam Tickle, only for the referee to wave play on.

Tickle made a fantastic save shortly after the restart to keep out a header from Udoh, with Kerr somehow managing to hack the ball to safety on the goalline.

Latics took the lead on 57 minutes, when Jordan Jones' corner was half-cleared to Smith, who lashed home from 12 yards.

The final quarter was all Shrewsbury, who came closest when ex-Latics defender Chey Dunkley’s header drifted just wide via a deflection.