Ineffective Wigan edge towards safety

In Roman times they uesd to say, in Latin, ‘Fortes fortuna adiuvat’, translated as ,’fortune favours the brave.’

Sadly it would appear that Martinez isn’t a Latin scholar , as his Wigan side prodcued an ineffectual performance agaisnt a determined patched up and already relegated Portsmouth side whose endeavour fully deserve their point.

Wigan opted to make one change, dropping Moreno to the bench and bringing Gohuri into the starting line up , moving Scharner into midfield and pushing Scotland into the lone striker role.

Portsmouth made eight changes from the side which beat Spurs int he F.A.Cup semi final , a side which had four Acadamy players and only four substitutes with no reserve keeper.

What Portsmouth did have was a team spirit , determination and a game plan all of which were brought together and co-ordianted by their skipper and ex Wigan player Michael Brown.

Portsmouth harried and chased every ball and when they weakened sat back and frustrated the blunt WIgan attacking plans.

Both halves were turgid affiars, statistics show Latics hsd over sixty percent of the possession but looked unlikely to do anything with it.

Most attempts on goal were from outside the penalty area which Ashdown dealt with unchallenged from any Wigan players.

Time and again the passes from Wigan went backwards,as no one seemed willing to move into a forward position to receive a pass.

Portsmouth created little going forward although debutant Richie outjumped Figeuroa from a set piece but headed wide.

At the other end , Wigan’s best move came from neat interplay between Scotland, N’Zogbia and McCarthy saw the Irish international’s shot well saved.

Half time brought muted boos and it was evident that as the game went on the crowd were getting more restless and these anxieties appeared to effect the players whose performance deteriorated.

Scharner, who was pulled off to be replaced by Moreno was jeered by a section of the crowd for a performance which, whilst not good was by no means the worse on the pitch. He went straight down the tunnel in what could be his last ever game for Wigan.

Moreno offered lttle going forward and in conjunction with Scotland made life easy for the makeshift Pompey defence.

Martinez rubbed further salt in the Wigan fan’s wounds bringing on the bright young hope Victor Moses with less than five minutes of normal time left, sparking hoots of derision.

These hoots quickly turned to a crescendo of boos and Martinez and the players could be left with no doubt, about the fans dissatisfaction with another abject performance.