We need a quick return to winning ways – boss

Sunderland, just hours after his appointment in early December, saw Wigan produce a shock win at the Stadium of Light – and he will be keen to avoid the embarrassment of seeing the strugglers complete a league double over his team.

He added: “It’s a bit of a test, isn’t it?

“Wigan here at the Stadium of Light was my first game in charge and we were beaten despite having all the statistics – bar the most important one, the scoreline – in our favour.

“They are not a bad side Wigan, though.

“They made good January signings, they have lots of experience and we saw at Bristol Rovers how hard these kind of games can be.

“We’re fine fitness-wise. The good news is there were no new injuries on Saturday.

“We want to go to Wigan and collect the three points.

“They are part of the 21 left available and we want to get back on the horse as quickly as possible.”

■ SUNDERLAND’S game at Blackpool will now kick-off at 12.30pm on Saturday, the club has confirmed.

The Black Cats were originally due to take on the Seasiders at Bloomfield Road at 3pm.

However, the EFL has rearranged all fixtures scheduled for that time in order to avoid a clash with the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh, who died on Friday at the age of 99.

Premier League games due to be played in the Saturday 3pm time slot will also be moved and other sporting bodies including Premiership Rugby and the British Horseracing Authority have also announced they will move their fixtures.

LEE Johnson says Sunderland’s weekend defeat against Charlton Athletic was the kind of setback he has been warning about – and says what matters is how his side responds at Wigan tonight.

Saturday’s 2-1 reverse against the Addicks at the Stadium of Light marked the end of the Black Cats’ 14-game unbeaten run, which included 12 league games.

The pain was compounded by the fact their automatic promotion rivals Hull City and Peterborough United both won which means Sunderland’s fate is no longer in their own hands, albeit there is still plenty of time for further twists and turns in the race.

Throughout Sunderland’s unbeaten run, in which they collected 30 out of a possible 36 points, Johnson (right) had cautioned that there would be ‘bumps’ along the way in the run-in and the game against Charlton – in which they conceded two soft goals while failing to convert a number of good chances of their own – was the first real setback the Black Cats have had since February.

Johnson said: “We knew there would be setbacks along the way.

“We have had to come from a long way back and this division is not easy – everyone is fighting for something and that battle for fifth and sixth place is a scrap between six or seven clubs in itself.

“We need to go into the Wigan game better than we were on Saturday in terms of our concentration.

“We need to do our jobs because we can’t give one goal away with something stupid.

“If they produce a bit of magic or a wonderful team move or if there’s a really bad refereeing decision or somthing like that you have to hold your hands up – but not the way we conceded the second goal at the weekend.”

Just as Sunderland are battling for promotion and Charlton are scrapping for a play-off place, Wigan also have something to fight for as they battle to avoid the drop.

Leam Richardson’s side currently occupies the fourth relegation place, and is chasing AFC Wimbledon and Northampton Town who are just above the relegation zone, one and two points respectively ahead of the Latics.

Just to add an extra dimension to tonight’s game, Johnson needs no reminding his first game in charge of