Blackburn Rovers 0-1 Wigan Athletic

Well it was bound to be a long long night, and it really was I can't imagine how long it was for the Blackburn Rovers fans, who now know they will be playing Championship football next season. The pressure was on both sides, and only a win would keep Blackburn up, and a point would have done Latics. And that really set the tone of the game.

It was frustrating and it looked like Wigan had reverted back to the team they had been a few weeks ago, but now looking back on it, you could see that the players were saving themselves for the long night ahead. We were the brighter side and had a large part of the possession for the first half, and that showed with Blackburn having relatively no chances.

For Wigan it was the other way around, and we could have gone ahead when Franco Di Santo danced through two challenges from Blackburn defenders. Before his tame shot really wasn't going to trouble Paul Robinson has it softly curled into the keepers arms.

That set the tone as we looked to get the ball down and try and play our style of open and passing football. That was taking the sting out of Blackburn. They couldn't get the ball, and when they did we fell back into our ranks and were content to sit tight and hold.

We would then hit with tight intricate passing, and Victor Moses was the next to get a chance. After somehow managing to keep the ball in wide and skip past Bradley Orr with ease. Yet there was none in the box so he had a shot which was straight at the keeper.

We kept coming but we couldn't really make any chances count. Crosses weren't really hitting their target and our passes weren't sticking as the rain lashed down on our players, but we kept going.

James McCarthy breaking through to the by-line a few times through out the half, but not really being able to find anyone on the cut back. While his partner James McArthur wasn't able to feed Jean Beasuejour out wide who would have been free on goal.

While Blackburn at the other end were resorted to attempts from long range or free-kicks. Rovers have been deadly from set pieces this year, but Morten Gamst Pederson's delievery just wasn't good enough from either the corner spot or from free-kicks.

The only other thing to mention from the first half, was Blackburn Rovers new signing. About five minutes into the half a cockerel dressed in a Blackburn flag roamed onto the pitch in an offside position onto a long ball forward. Unfortunately for Rovers their news play was ejected from the pitch by a combination of Ali Al Habsi and Yakubu.

The second half you could feel that the home team would come out fighting. That was after a delayed start due to an incident regarding Gael Givet. It was believed he had received treatment by paramedics, scenes of Fabrice Muamba came to mind, but it was only apparently a treatment due to a bad hamstring.

But as predicted the home team came back out and started to play football knowing they need three points. Yakubu still didn't really get into the game, but he could have scored early in the half. A corner in from the left hand side hit Dann at the back post, who played the ball back to Yakubu. The striker looked to have hit the ball past the keeper before Jean Beasuejour cleared the ball off the line.

That seemed to lift Blackburn and the fans who started to get behind their team and that showed as they sat in the Wigan half. We on the other hand were looking to break on them, but we couldn't string the passes together well enough, and most of them fell short.

Yet slowly but surely we grew back into the half and started to play some good football up front. Victor Moses and James McCarthy linking up well, yet neither could finish after a great double save from Robinson from both players. That set the tone as the keeper was looking Rovers best players.

Blackburn then had two big things go against them. First they could have and should have had a penalty, when Emmerson Boyce fouled David Holliet by hacking at his calf. Yet referee Mark Clattenberg completely missed the incident. Then Blackburn could have got in behind, a long clearance from Robinson saw Caldwell miss judge the ball and allow Yakubu to get in behind him, till the days hero Antolin Alcaraz made a last ditch tackle.

That was the last Blackburn threat as Wigan took the game by the scruff of the neck and tried to push on and go. Victor Moses nearly provided the pass of the game, a great whipped in ball that Conor Sammon was only a yard away from getting on the end off. The ball back across was deflected behind for a corner kick.

From that corner, the goal would go in that would seal Wigan;s and Blackburn's fate. Shaun Maloney who had been quiet today, saw his corner met by a free Antolin Alcaraz who head home in front on the three thousand Wigan supporters.

And that would seal the game, as Blackburn tried to push up field. But the wing backs dropped deep and looked to get the ball up and out of the Wigan half as we held on to keep a clean sheet and all three points.

So we have done it and will be a Premier League club for the eighth season in a row. Commiseration to Blackburn, who are a good club, but who the fans feel is in the wrong hands.