WAGHORN EQUALISER PILES PAIN ON LATICS
DERBY boss Phillip Cocu believes his players will draw confidence from their lastgasp equaliser at Wigan.
Martyn Waghorn netted in stoppage time to earn Derby a point after Antonee Robinson had put the home side ahead with nine minutes left.
With Derby at home to Charlton today, Cocu believes his players will take forward the lessons they learned against Wigan.
Cocu said: “They scored a fantastic goal, which was a big blow for our players. But we showed a good attitude, and we were determined to go to the last second to get a positive result.
“In the end I think a draw was a fair result, and it’s a positive and important result after so many defeats.”
Cocu added: “They didn’t create too much, apart from free-kicks and corners, and I think in the second half we were much better. We were better on the ball, we used the space better, and we created chances on goal.”
Wigan came within inches of taking the lead when former Derby winger Michael Jacobs released Robinson, who shaped to cross, but sent in a wicked shot that beat Ben Hamer, but struck the near post.
After hardly getting a kick in the opening quarter, Derby almost took the lead with their first effort on goal. A free-kick found Curtis Davies unmarked at the far post, but he headed firmly into the ground and the ball looped up into the arms of Jamie Jones.
Having not been at the races at all, Derby were almost gifted the lead within 15 seconds of the restart.
Kal Naismith sliced an attempted clearance over the head of his advancing goalkeeper, with both men giving chase along with Waghorn. The ball somehow ended up behind for a corner, with the Derby fans screaming for a penalty which never came.
Wigan continued to apply the pressure and Jacobs forced a brilliant save from Hamer.
The Derby defence cracked nine minutes from time, when Jacobs found Garner, who hooked his volley into the top corner to the relief of most inside the DW Stadium.
But there was a sense of inevitability about what was to follow, with ex-Latic Waghorn’s goal extending Wigan’s winless run to 14 matches.
For Wigan boss Paul Cook, it was a continuation of an astonishing sequence that has now seen his side drop 24 points from winning positions this season.
He admitted: “It’s mentality, it’s strength of mind, it’s who is marking who at the end. Someone’s been marking Martyn Waghorn for 92 minutes, and in the 93rd minute, someone wasn’t marking Martyn Waghorn.
“That’s football, and I will take the blame for these lads because the learning curve is quite brutal.”