Wigan Athletic new-boy opens his account in behind-closed-doors outing at Liverpool
Paul Mullin scored his first goal for Wigan Athletic in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Liverpool Under-21s.
Ryan Lowe added the fixture to Latics' scheduled pre-season programme, with less than a fortnight to go until the League One opener against Northampton Town.
And he'll have been delighted to see his summer signing from Wrexham get off the mark.
Mullin was in the right place at the right time on the hour mark to convert a left-wing cross to put Latics ahead at the Kirkby Academy on Merseyside.
However, a lively Liverpool side levelled almost immediately in the form of a very familiar name.
Carter Pinnington created the opening, and Keyrol Figueroa - son of former Latics hero Maynor - cut inside and found the bottom corner of the net.
Ironically, Figueroa Jnr had replaced Lewis Koumas, son of ex-Wigan midfielder Jason.
Liverpool were indebted to goalkeeper Bailey Hall for ensuring honours ended even with a superb stop late on to deny Latics a winner.
Coming off the bench for Liverpool were Calvin Ramsay and James Balagizi, who each spent time on loan with Latics during the last two seasons.
Balagizi returned to Liverpool midway through the 2023/24 campaign after failing to make much of an impact, Ramsay suffered exactly the same fate last term.
The draw extended Latics' unbeaten record in pre-season to four matches ahead of Saturday’s final hit-out at Tranmere Rovers.
It was also the first time they had scored the first goal in pre-season at the fourth attempt.
Latics had previously come from behind to beat Chorley 2-1, draw 1-1 against Curzon Ashton in Spain, and win 4-2 at Accrington last weekend.