Grigg back on fire to frustrate old pals
WIGAN boss Paul Cook insists he was never worried about Will Grigg’s previous League goaldrought as his forward struck twice to defeat Walsall.
Grigg came back to haunt his former side after scoring on the halfhour mark before winning and taking a second-half penalty as the Latics sealed back-toback wins.
As Grigg added to his first league goal – scored a fortnight ago against Bristol Rovers, nearly a year after his last – Cook highlighted the Northern Ireland international’s calibre.
“Things like that don’t worry me too much,” Cook said. “A player of Will Grigg’s quality will always score goals.
“Some people will see him going through a difficult spell but as a manager, you know he'll come through that, and he has.
“It was great to see him get two goals and he might even have had a hat-trick.
“We weren’t anywhere near our best but great credit to the players.
“People will only remember the points tally at the end of the season – they won’t remember every single performance.
“We huffed and puffed at times but great credit to the squad.”
Nick Powell’s fifthminute pass found Grigg, whose close-range effort was blocked, while the former later blasted wide as the hosts threatened.
Wigan went ahead after Callum Elder’s cross led to a collision between Powell and Walsall stopper Mark Gillespie, with Grigg slotting home the loose ball.
David Coote pointed to the spot after James Wilson slid in on Grigg and the ex-Walsall man tucked the resulting 54th-minute penalty past Saddlers substitute goalkeeper Liam Roberts.
The stopper denied both Powell and Sam Morsy before Walsal’'s Dan Agyei fired inches wide, and his header later forced Jamie Jones into a diving save with four minutes left.
“We were beaten by the better team,” admitted Saddlers boss Jon Whitney. “That’s why they’re one of the favourites. They’ve got threats all over the pitch. We didn’t contain them well enough.
“We know they’re a threat, which is why they’re in the top two.
“The response (to conceding) wasn’t great. We can’t hide away from the fact.
“We can’t concede another penalty at that time of the game. It kills you.
“You’re not going to come here 2-0 down and keep coming back from goals behind like that.
“It’s something we’ve got to really look at. It’s not acceptable.”