Cook’s dose of the Blues
Bournemouth ended an eight-game league run without a clean sheet.
Brighton boss Chris Hughton has not beaten the Cherries in five tries. WIGAN boss Paul Cook reckoned defeat by in-form Birmingham was a perfect reflection of the way things are going for his side at the moment.
Having started the brighter, the Latics failed to make the most of their chances inside the opening quarter.
And they fell behind midway through the first half to Che Adams’ wellworked goal after he combined with striker partner Lukas Jutkiewicz.
Skipper Michael Morrison (right) doubled the Blues lead on the stroke of half-time, and Jacques Maghoma completed the scoring on the hour after Jutkiewicz knocked on Wes Harding’s cross.
Cedric Kipre flicked a header on to the woodwork late on, but that was as good as it got for Wigan.
They have now won only one of their last 10 matches, and Cook was struggling to find any positives.
“It’s where we’re at, in a tough league, underlined by what happened today,” he complained.
“We were up against a tough team, very well organised, physically strong, hard to break down and full of good players. For us, it just underlined the kind of run we’re on at the moment.
“We won’t be making rash excuses, we’ll be working hard to find a way. We’re actually starting games really well, and we are looking a threat – but we’ve got to score.
“We’re starting to become a little bit suspect in both boxes, and it has to change.
“I’m not a manager who will come out here and criticise my players.
“I have never done that and I never will, we’ll keep that in-house.”
For Blues boss Garry Monk, it was close to being the prototype perfect away-day performance from start to finish.
“I thought we were professional, clinical, kept a clean sheet and showed good game management,” he said.
“Those are four aspects of any game that you need to be strong in, and we were at it today.
“Certainly, compared to a few games lately, that was much more like the standard we’ve been producing on the whole this season.
“When you’ve got strikers who are in such confident mood, you’re capable of anything.
“At the same time, when they had their moments, we stayed switched on and defended very well throughout.
“It was a fabulous away performance and we deserved the points.”