Cook gets ideal gift

PAUL COOK praised the character of his Wigan players after they gave him the perfect 53rd birthday present.

Shaun Hutchinson’s (above) secondhalf own goal moved the Latics to within two points of safety as Millwall’s play-off hopes suffered a setback.

Wigan are still in the bottom three, despite 11 points from the last 18, but Cook is confident they can pull clear.

He said: “We deserved the win. As a manager you can be disappointed when you look around your dressing room and you think there is more in the players, but I never have that feeling here.

“They work really hard, they give us everything they have got and hopefully with a bit of luck along the way we can stay up. We’ve got 12 games left and some good ones at home.”

Defender Hutchinson scored Millwall’s winner last week at Preston, but turned Anthony Pilkington’s cross into his own net after 57 minutes. It was no more than Wigan deserved, with Lions boss Gary Rowett critical of his players’ attitude.

He said: “We seem to be able to lift ourselves for the teams in the upper half of the table but don’t have the right mentality in these types of games. Only in the last 20 minutes did we look like we wanted to get back in it.”

Rowett felt his side should have a penalty in the first half when Ryan Woods was sent tumbling, but referee Jeremy Simpson awarded a free-kick.

He added: “He was inside the box when the contact was made so technically it is a penalty. But it wasn’t clear unless you see the replay.”

WIGAN

MILLWALL