RESULT! Supersub Stephens strikes to keep Hughton’s Seagulls flying

DALE STEPHENS fired in from 25 yards to send Brighton soaring up to second in the Championship table.

The midfielder smashed his effort into the top corner in the 68th minute to seal a tight game at the DW Stadium for Chris Hughton’s high-flyers.

Wigan started the day in the bottom three but were on a four-game unbeaten run and came charging out of the blocks.

Michael Jacobs fired wide from a decent position, while at the other end Glenn Murray somehow failed to hit the target with a header from underneath the Wigan bar.

Brighton were happy to sit back and play on the counter-attack and Wigan took charge.

Will Grigg’s back-header caused panic in the Seagulls’ penalty area and Max Power saw his shot deflected wide.

Nick Powell’s bullet header from point-blank range was then brilliantly saved by Brighton keeper David Stockdale.

Nathan Byrne replaced the injured Powell in the 33rd minute.

And Byrne and Grigg thought they were in for a breakaway after a Brighton corner broke down, only for ex-Wigan man Gaetan Bong to rescue his side.

Byrne then saw a shot blocked from a good position.

Brighton almost got their noses in front just before half-time but Sam Baldock’s fierce shot was brilliantly saved by Adam Bogdan, with Stephen Warnock completing the clearance.

The second half saw Wigan keep pushing for the opener but leaving gaps for Brighton to exploit.

Byrne and West Ham loanee Reece Burke failed to hit the target and Wigan’s missed chances came back to haunt them.

Stephens had scored on his previous visit to the DW Stadium in Wigan’s 2-1 victory here two seasons ago.

And within minutes of coming off the bench, the Albion midfielder curled a brilliant effort past the outstretched fingertips of Bogdan and into the top corner.

Wigan boss Gary Caldwell surprisingly took off top-scorer Grigg and sent on Adam Le Fondre.

But the Latics barely tested Stockdale in the last 20 minutes.

The nearest they came was when Jacobs looked to have wriggled his way through in stoppage time, only to be denied by a last-ditch Bong challenge.

Brighton boss Hughton said: “We were far from at our best, especially in the first half.

“We gave the ball away far too easily but when it’s like that, you have to make sure you don’t concede.”

Caldwell said: “If we were being outplayed, I could come in here and hold my hands up and accept it.

“But when I see the players giving as much as they are I just want them to believe in themselves a little bit more.”