Wigan Athletic chief muses what might have been against Wrexham

The Red Dragons - skippered by Latics old-boy James McClean - failed to land a single punch on Latics, with Sam Tickle not called upon to make a single save in his 100th career appearance.

At the other end, Maleace Asamoah Jnr once again locked the man most likely from a Latics point of view, but he shot wide in the first half, before ignoring Dale Taylor to fire straight at Arthur Okonkwo after the break.

It meant a third draw in the space of a week, on the back of away ties against Leyton Orient and Exeter City, and Lowe was left to rue what might have been.

He said: "It was a good point, although I'm disappointed we weren't able to take all three. We had some good opportunities to do that, some good chances, but it's the same old story.

"And if you can't win a game, then don't lose it, and I thought we were very solid and resolute in possession.

"We nullified their threats, but we huffed and puffed at the top end of the pitch and couldn't find that little bit of quality.

"It certainly wasn't for the lack of trying, and overall we're pleased with the point.

"Wrexham didn't have a shot on our goal, and that epitomised the effort of the group, they've been brilliant to work with.

"We just have to get the top end of the pitch right, we've shown them videos of what it looks like. But I'm always pleased when we keep clean sheets and limit good teams to little or no opportunities.

"It's been a long week...we've been to Leyton Orient and Exeter away, but that's three good points for us. If we can keep ticking off points, chalking the games off, we're going in the right direction."

Asamoah Jnr dragged an early shot wide, and that was pretty much it for a first half light on real goalmouth action.

And it was Latics who had the two genuine chances of the second half, with Asamoah Jnr involved in both.

First, he showed incredible space to get away down the right, but elected to shoot instead of playing in the waiting Taylor and Jensen Weir, and Okonkwo made a straightforward save.

Okonkwo was also on hand to deny Owen Dale, after good work in the lead-up from Taylor, Asamoah Jnr and Weir.

At the other end, the only scare Latics had was when Ryan Longman’s cross appeared to hit the arm of Luke Robinson in the penalty area, but referee Adam Herczeg waved away the visitors’ appeals for a spot-kick.

The result leaves Latics five points clear of the relegation zone with five matches to play – one more than all four sides at the bottom.

Victory on Good Friday at rock-bottom Shrewsbury Town would not only relegate the Shrews, but all-but secure Latics’ own safety.