Baggies are blown away
WIGAN boss Paul Cook believed his side got what they deserved after Josh Windass scored the only goal in a feisty game.
Windass had been denied twice in quick succession by Baggies keeper Sam Johnstone, but persistence paid off as he slotted home low into the net with 16 minutes left for his second goal of the season since his £2.5million move from Rangers.
A frustrating afternoon for West Brom was compounded when Jake Livermore was sent off following his second booking when he fouled Windass.
Victory ended the Latics’ three-match winless run and moved them to within touching distance of the play-offs.
It was frustration for the Baggies, though, who lost for the first time in eight games to stay third.
Cook praised his side’s performance as they put the 4-0 defeat to Preston last time out behind them.
He said: “It hurts. As a manager it hurts you a lot.
“I thought the lads showed what they are all about. I thought they bounced back excellently.
“We came up against a very strong West Brom side. I do think we deserved the win, but I do think West Brom will get to where they want to be.”
Cook was not looking too far ahead, despite the Latics’ rise to the brink of the top six.
“You just keep going, it’s such an unforgiving league,” he said.
“Teams can go five, six, seven games in this league without winning in a heartbeat.
“We now go on the road to Millwall and Sheffield United and we know how difficult those games are.”
West Brom had been undefeated since August 24 and top of the Championship scoring charts with 31 goals.
With 15 between them, Dwight Gayle and Jay Rodriguez had one more than Wigan in total.
However, Rodriguez’s early header straight at Christian Walton was their only real effort on target.
Windass, Gary Roberts and Nick Powell were all denied before Windass took the ball wide of Ahmed Hegazi and drove home.
With six minutes left Livermore pulled down Windass and was shown his second yellow following a foul on Roberts.
Baggies boss Darren Moore (above) had no complaints about the result.
He said: “Those types of games are there lying in wait in the Championship. It was a game where both teams were battling, not much goal action and whatever there was it was all off-target.
“But the chance fell to them and the boy took it very, very well.”
Neither did he argue with Livermore’s dismissal, and said: “Jake will be the first one to hold his hands up and I am the first to say as the head coach that I have got no complaints.”