Latics to gain confidence from another win

Wigan manager Paul Jewell insisted an extra-time victory over Championship side Watford will be good for the Latics’ confidence, despite the unimpressive nature of his fringe team’s display.

Jewell’s side, who are fourth in the Premiership, have now gone nine matches without defeat and won six on the trot.

However, a team with nine changes to the side that won 2-0 at Aston Villa at the weekend and that contained no recognised striker struggled to see off an inexperienced Hornets side.

Ryan Taylor’s penalty and a brace from Swedish international Andreas Johansson - first Wigan goals for both – earned progression to the fourth round of the Carling Cup.

But the JJB Stadium outfit had to wait until the 97th minute to take the lead, with the final two goals coming in the last three minutes.

Despite not hiding the fact that the League remains his priority by some distance, Jewell, whose team entertain Fulham on Saturday, is adamant the Carling Cup is still important.

He said: “We won the match and winning is a habit. It’s not been a bad night for us.

“I would rather lose (against Watford) and win on Saturday but why not win again?”

A main reason why the Latics struggled to make their dominance count against Adrian Boothroyd’s team was the simple lack of firepower.

With Jason Roberts struggling with a thigh problem and David Connolly also troubled by injury, Jewell did not want to risk his other main forward Henri Camara against the Hornets.

Gary Teale partnered Johansson in attack with the former even swapping with Taylor, who has played much of his career at right-back, at one stage.

Jewell added: “We struggled for a striker because we’re short on strikers. I wouldn’t risk Camara because it looked like we might be struggling for the weekend so I didn’t need any more injuries.

“We should have done better with the situation but to play the way we did, without a striker on the pitch, was a credit to the players.”

Jewell revealed that Roberts’ injury makes him a “major doubt” to face the Cottagers at the weekend.

Boothroyd accepted that his team, which he refused to describe as weakened despite seven changes, were picked off when chasing the game at the death.

He said: “It was like a throwback to the 30’s at the end with the 2-3-5 (formation), on another day we might have got something but we didn’t.

“Credit to Wigan, they go through and we don’t.”