The injuries that have piled up through the first month and of course the lack of any real form following the opening day of the season saw me today going to Wigan expecting very little particularly once I'd seen the starting lineup and more injuries to our first choice midfield pairing. But I left at 5pm feeling much more optimistic having seen a very spirited and uplifting display. The only shame being that we didn't leave Wigan with all three points despite Chaplin, Thiam and I think Schmidt having great opportunities for us. Great to see Cavare back involved and in his rightful position but I was most impressed by Sibbick who was out of position as usual but this time more so and yet did a handy job regardless. I'd have liked more than 5 points out of the first month if I'm honest but it's good to go into the break with a clean sheet and away point on the board and when we reconvene against Leeds we could well have near-enough a full-strength squad to select from. I'll enjoy my weekend.
I think we will stay up and get better as the season goes on. Today we played well and it feels like two points dropped because we were goal shy again as the better team. I aren't sure why Chaplin didn't shoot when put through in the first ten minutes. He then had one brilliantly saved from close range in the second half. If the Bahre shot had gone in it would have been a brilliant goal instead of a brilliant save. Schmidt missed a sitter from about two yards that if it had been for example Thiam he would have got stick for missing.
I would have gladly taken a point after seeing the team sheet, but I now feel disappointed not to have taken all 3. Wigan are the poorest team we've played up to now, but even though we couldn't manage to score, we did create, and unlike at Birmingham, who were also very poor, we kept a clean sheet. It's good to know that some of the spending clubs can be so crap though. Gives us a bit of hope. Wigan only improved when Moore was subbed.
