A Hugo lift for Wigan

ON A normal day the sympathy for Burnley would have been all too evident in the wake of this cruel defeat.

Yet it was difficult to find someone who felt sorry for Brian Laws’s side other than themselves as justice was seen to be done at the DW Stadium when Hugo Rodallega’s diving header deep into injury time helped Wigan take a giant stride towards safety and shoved Burnley firmly in the opposite direction.

Burnley played the more positive football and deserved at least a point, let alone nothing, but the fact a second-half incident saw Chris Kirkland, the England and Wigan goalkeeper, struck on the back of the head with a coin thrown by travelling supporters in the goal behind him couldn’t help neutrals believe the outcome was right in the end.

The FA will launch an investigation this week in the hope of identifying the culprit, but few could blame Kirkland for celebrating somewhat enthusiastically at the final whistle when there was also the small matter of Michael Duff’s crude and cowardly late elbow into the face of Paul Scharner, which went unpunished but could still come under scrutiny from FA officials.

Burnley are in danger of losing as many friends as points at this rate. Roberto Martinez, the Wigan manager, was in no mood to feel sorry for his beaten opponents despite their desperate plight and cruel manner of yet another away defeat.

Martinez said: “When Chris got hit on the head, he could have been worried, he could have been dizzy. But in football you get the rewards you deserve and he deserved that. He wanted to stay on the pitch until the end of the game and he allowed us to win the three points.

“When you have got men like that in the dressing room, you can achieve things. That is the feeling that I had today. The players have been performing really well over the past six or seven weeks, but it has been tough because we have not been getting the results.

“In a way today we got the result we deserved. We left it late but that just brings in extra emotion. Chris showed a great deal of bravery. It is very easy in football to look for an excuse and feel sorry for yourself. But he has been a magnificent professional since we first started working together. He has had some difficult moments with his injuries but they are just left behind because of the way he works now.”

Laws claimed to have no knowledge of either incident involving Kirkland or Duff. What he will be clear of, however, is how deep the hole is Burnley now find themselves in. Burnley have still not won away from home all season and have won just one of their last 12 games.

Just to help them maintain focus, neighbours Blackburn Rovers visit Turf Moor this weekend and defender Tyrone Mears said: “We worked so hard with our preparations for this game, but it’s gone the other way and we’re really down about it in the dressing room. But we have to keep our heads, there are still games to be played and other teams will slip up between now and the end of the season.

“We’ve seven games to go and we still have a great chance to stay in this league, that’s how we have to look at it. It doesn’t get much bigger than that game for this club and it’s massive in terms of us trying to stay in the league as well now. No motivation will be needed for that game. The fans will be right behind us and I’m sure it’s going to turn for us in that game.”

MATCH RATING: *** – Dull first half, livelier in the second. Both sides could have nicked it. Burnley will rue missed chances.

REFEREE: Mike Jones (Cheshire) 7 – Did not punish Michael Duff for the challenge that led to Paul Scharner limping off, but quickly dealt with situation when Chris Kirkland was hit on the head from an object thrown from the Burnley fans.