Match Report: Blackpool 1-3 Wigan Athletic

One change from the mid-week game against Cardiff City as Ali Al Habsi was switched in goal with Scott Carson. Ali has been in a spell of indifferent form so being dropped from the starting line up cannot be that much of a shock for the keeper.

The other new coming out of the team was the return of Leon Clarke who battled against his scapula injury to make the substitutes bench. The striker who passed all of his scans was released by Wolverhampton Wanderers back to the club during the week. The striker wasn't quite yet expected to make a return to the line up.

The game was also marked by charity fund raising by the Wigan fans. In the name of the Joseph's Goal the supporters aimed to sing 90 songs in 90 minutes, a fitting event to an inspiring young Wigan fans story.

The start of the game looked much as you would expect with two teams fighting it out for an important three points at the bottom of the table. Yet in the end it would be the Latics who would shine through in the first half with South Korean Kim Bo Kyung getting his first goal from the club, one of the easiest he will score with a tap in from two yards out.

That really summed the first half up, the second though proved to be a much open affair. You felt whoever got the next goal could change the complexion of this tie. Luckily for Wigan we managed to get that goal.

It wasn't before we had to do some defending though. Emmmerson Boyce who has been out of the side for a longer period has return in the past two weeks and looks to resemble some of his former self in the right back position. The defender twice clearing off the line.

It was another defender, Hary Maguire, who got our second. Corner into the Blackpool box found the towering defender free at the back post. His header beat the Blackpool goalkeeper but need a helping touch from Darren O'Dea.

That really wrapped the game up as Blackpool lost any shred of confidence they had.

With the Tangerines trying to put the pressure on, they left gaps at the back which meant that James McClean was able to race through on goal and apply a sublime cool headed finish to get Wigan's third. That wasn't to be the end of the action though.

Credit to Blackpool has they kept the pressure on, which meant they managed to get a late consolation goal from Sheffield Wednesday loan signing Gary Medline in the 85th minutes. We have to be kicking ourselves for not keeping a clean sheet!

So we have now managed a couple of wins in the space of a few weeks. With other results we are now 9 points clear of safety and with the inform Norwich to come on Wednesday the task of survival is still an uphill one. But maybe this confidence boost can be the push we need to get back to winning ways.