GRIGG DOES THE DAMAGE AS RUTHLESS LATICS STRIKE
WIGAN manager Gary Caldwell hailed his side’s ruthlessness as the promotion-chasing Latics thrashed ten-man Swindon at the County Ground to stretch their unbeaten run to 17 matches.
Max Power lived up to his name by scoring a screamer, but it was three goals in the space of four second-half minutes which blew sorry Swindon away.
Wigan boss Caldwell said:“In the first half we contained them but the second half we went 100 per cent, were clinical in our finishing and killed the game off quickly.
“Swindon are a good side.They like to play out from the back so we made the decision to go man for man and put them under pressure from the off.
“I felt we could have been even more on the front foot in the first half than we were. In the second half we came out and blew them away and the game was over.”
Northern Ireland striker Will Grigg set the tone for a one-sided evening by sweeping in Chris McCann’s cross from six yards with only 15 minutes on the clock.
Power made it 2-0 two minutes after the break, cutting in from the left before planting an unstoppable shot into the far corner of the Robins’ net.
Front-man Grigg completed his double three minutes later with a deflected shot before Dean Morsy claimed his first Wigan goal with a fine 20-yard finish.
Nicky Ajose got in behind the Wigan defence to cut the deficit 11 minutes from time and deny veteran goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen a clean sheet.
Swindon’s misery was compounded in the 86th minute when captain Nathan Thompson was shown a straight red card for a reckless lunge on McCann. The defeat all but ends Swindon’s faint hopes of making the play-offs and home boss Luke Williams admits his side were taught a lesson.
William said:“Wigan are a Championship side playing in League One. They are that good. It is a benchmark for us.
“I have to give them a huge amount of credit because they managed to do everything. Physically they were difficult to deal with, they moved the ball well and are good at set-pieces.
“It was not a humiliation. The fact is Wigan are exceptional. If we had set up to try and defend it would have been the same outcome without us having a chance of trying to win.
“We thought we could create more chances and if we could take those we would have had something to hold onto.
“The second goal killed us. After that a few of our players lost their heads and let things get on top of them.”
Second-placed Wigan face Rochdale tomorrow and club legend Caldwell added:“It is just three points and now we move onto the next game.
“We have got a short recovery time to prepare for Monday, refocus and get ready for another tough game We have got ourselves into a very good position.”