Unpaid Latics show wealth of passion to delight Shaun
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SHAUN MALONEY praised his Wigan team for dealing with the nightmare of unpaid wages as they drew at Watford.
Maloney was due to fly to Bahrain after the game to meet with the club’s owners and sort out the issues.
But the Wigan boss’ mood was improved by James Mcclean’s equaliser, Keinan Davis having given the Hornets the lead.
He said: “Very important point, considering the league position (Wigan are bottom). But when you put into context what’s happened in the last 48 hours and the feeling within the group – and it did change in the lead-up – I’m just incredibly impressed. I’m proud to be a part of that.
“It’s still not the case that we’ve been paid unfortunately, so what they did today was incredible.”
Wigan had a lucky escape after just seven minutes, when defender Ryan Nyambe misjudged a long kick by Daniel Bachmann, letting in Joao Pedro. The striker rounded keeper Ben Amos but drove into the sidenetting.
Watford deservedly took the lead almost on half-time through a fine solo run and shot by Davis, after a looped pass by Pedro.
The visitors hit back six minutes after the restart, when half-time sub Callum Lang crossed for Mcclean to head home.
A curling effort from Imran Louza hit the post on the hour but that was the closest either side came to a winner.
Watford head coach Chris Wilder (below) believed fatigue proved an issue for his side. He said “We looked a little lethargic after they scored.
“Our levels did drop from a conditioning point of view.
“That might be something I can’t do something about at this moment. “There won’t be any magic pills for the next nine games.
“We looked a little stretched. There were a lot of tired legs and tired minds.”