Bruce takes hard road to survival

RECEIVED wisdom suggests that a steady diet of hard-fought, narrow 1-0 victories offers the best chance of Premier League survival.

If that is the case then Wigan Athletic appear intent on pursuing a defiantly unorthodox approach in their efforts to retain their place in the top flight.

Charged by manager Steve Bruce with the task of claiming 10 points from six games to ensure they enter the new year still harbouring hopes of escape, Wigan successfully, if dramatically, negotiated the first of those hurdles.

Two hat-tricks, a squandered three-goal lead, a missed penalty, a sending off, and a comically inconsistent referee may satisfy any marketing dictum but Bruce could be forgiven for preferring an approach that guarantees points on the board as opposed to bums on seats.

Contrary to the pattern of Bruce’s first two games in charge, Wigan’s notoriously flaky defences didn’t prove fatal to their hopes and the manager could at least reflect on a tale of success, rather than what might have been. Now, having ended a run of 13 games without a win, Bruce’s confident claim that his side can escape trouble carry an air of credibility.

The loss of Emile Heskey, stretchered off and due to undergo a scan today on what appears to be an ankle ligament injury, took a significant edge off the display but with Marcus Bent manfully assuming responsibility and responding with three well-taken goals, Bruce had every right to be upbeat.

“When you haven’t won for three months in the Premier League then it seems like a lifetime,” he said. “It was the performance that we wanted and needed and hopefully it can give us a bit of belief. It is a big result and hopefully it can pull us right back in among the pack. If we had not got it today, we would have been five or six points behind at the bottom and it is hard to claw back.”

When goals from Denny Landzaat, Bent and Paul Scharner put Wigan three ahead after 37 minutes, the result appeared beyond doubt, particularly given Benni McCarthy’s missed 22nd-minute penalty. The mood changed, however, when Roque Santa Cruz scored in first-half added time and the Paraguayan quickly added two more early in the second half, more than compensating for Brett Emerton’s second yellow card 12 minutes after the break.

By rights Wigan should have folded, but they reacted with two more goals from Bent that Mark Hughes, the Blackburn manager, was convinced were offside. Like Alex Ferguson before him, Hughes was critical of referee Mark Clattenburg and was particularly incensed by the match officials' refusal to discuss the game with the disgruntled visitors.

“The referee’s performance affected the game, Hughes said. “We tried to get into see the ref but he is refusing to speak to my assistant. I thought we were allowed to speak to the referee 30 minutes after the game but he said he’s going home.”

Bruce, meanwhile, was happy to reflect on his good fortune at finally having Bent on his side after previously failing to sign the striker for Birmingham.

“I have tried to sign Marcus three times and he has turned me down lots of times,” Bruce added. “So he owes me that hat-trick.”

WIGAN (4-4-2): Kirkland 7, Boyce 6, Bramble 7, Scharner 8, Kilbane 7, Valencia 6, Landzaat 7, Brown 6, Taylor 8 (Olembe 89, 5), Bent 9, Heskey 7 (Aghahowa 39 6, Granqvist 89, 5).

Subs Not Used: Pollitt, Koumas.

BLACKBURN (4-4-2): Friedel 6, Emerton 3, Samba 4, Nelsen 4, Warnock 5, Bentley 5, Savage 6, Reid 6, Pedersen 5, McCarthy 5 (Derbyshire 75, 6), Santa Cruz 8 (Dunne 89, 5).

Subs Not Used: Brown, Olsson, Mokoena.

REFEREE: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne and Wear) 4: Infuriated both sides with an alarming lack of consistency and his over-zealous early approach triggered a flurry of unnecessary yellow cards. Emerton can have no complaints about his sending off, though.

MATCH RATING: ***** The purists may tut but forget about the defensive errors and controversial decisions, this was Premier League football at its most absorbing, warts and all.