Wigan Athletic: Five things we learned from Blackburn (h)

1 Like a glove! Latics made a welcome return to the DW for the first time in three-and-a-half months, and it was like they'd never been away. The way Paul Cook's side have adjusted to behind-closed-doors football - despite the manager's well-documented dislike for the experience - has been hugely impressive. Eight games unbeaten, six clean sheets in a row, five points above the drop zone, eight places off the bottom...no problem.

2 Familiarity breeds content! While most clubs up and down the country have chosen to rotate their squad, Cook named an unchanged side from the one that won at Huddersfield seven days earlier. He also only elected to use three of his allocated five replacements off the bench (one of them, Joe Garner, deep in stoppage time). The Latics boss has never been one for shuffling his pack unnecessarily, but he may need to now, with Tuesday's visit of Stoke marking the first of seven games with no more than four days in between to rest. That said...

3 Champing at the bit! ...the gaffer does have good options to bring in, with Lee Evans and Michael Jacobs coming off the bench against Blackburn and tipping the balance in Wigan's favour. Evans must be hammering on the door for a start, but the question is where? Sam Morsy and Joe Williams are as good an engine room as there is in the division, while Jamal Lowe, Kieran Dowell and Anthony Pilkington are working well with big Kieffer Moore up top. Jacobs too has given his manager another nudge, with his second goal in five games despite limited minutes. Selection problems galore - but very welcome ones.

4 Keeping ahead of the game! It's fair to say David Marshall took time to settle at the DW after joining from Hull last summer. But six clean sheets on the bounce have showed exactly why he's been Scotland's No.1 and played in the Premier League for much of his career. At the opposite end, Christian Walton was returning to the club he served well on loan during the last couple of seasons. But his mistake for the first goal - when he collided with his own defender in trying to collect Antonee Robinson's cross - showed he's not quite the finished article yet. And perhaps why Latics decided against extending his loan for a third season, in favour of the ever-reliable Marshall.

5 And then there were 12! Usually, the 50-point mark is enough to secure safety in the 46-game Championship. But with so many sides at the bottom showing they've still got plenty of fight, it looks like that figure won't be enough this term. Sheffield Wednesday won at Bristol City on Sunday to move up to 13th place on 52 points, still with hopes of making the play-offs. And yet they're still only 10 points clear of the drop zone with seven matches to go! The bottom half of the Championship - a dozen sides - are all still involved in the dogfight. And despite being the form side over the last 10 matches, Latics themselves are only five points above the dotted line. This one could go all the way to the final day...strap yourselves in!