They kfacts are that the Latics have now lost two games on the bounce, albeit both away from home, and now face the visit of Liverpool on Wednesday evening. A repeat of last year's 1-0 victory would be most welcome.
Here is the reaction of the two managers.
Roberto Martinez
It was one of those days were certain decisions needed to be made at key moments, and that didn't happen. For long spells in the first-half I felt we took the sting out of the game and Blackburn's threat really well, and scored what was a very good goal.
The disappointment is over how that didn't count. It's hard to take and difficult to understand. There was very minimal contact from Charles and it should have stood. The first goals in these games are key moments and I felt we worked extremely hard to deserve that goal. It was a big blow to suffer.
The link-up play between Charles and Hugo was exceptional and was worthy of a goal. In the second-half we started the brighter of the two sides and had two very good chances that forced Paul Robinson into very good saves.
Then in two of the very few attempts Blackburn had they scored two goals which meant that the excellent work we put in could not be reflected in the score-line.
The reaction was there and the performance was very good. We were the better side and came to Ewood Park knowing that Blackburn play in a certain way that is very effective for them.
The first goal was a bit of a freak situation with the free-kick going straight in the goal rather than go in search of one of the big men in the area.
But that aside our performance was worthy of three points and it's one of those tough games to take.
The character in the players was fantastic to see from the start and after conceding. We carried on wanting to get on the ball and wanting to be the side that attacked going in search of a win we deserved.
If we were to play that game ten times we would have only lost once, and that's what's happened today. But overall the performance was up to standard; we kept the ball well, defended well and showed great composure to create chances that should have won the game.
The way the players applied themselves and the way we kept the ball was a big positive. There were some exceptional performances out there and the whole experience will give us a desire to produce on Wednesday night. If we carry on like that the points will come.
Sam Allardyce
Whilst our performance overall wasn't very good, you have to look at the quality of our goals today. The quality of goals on two occasions was something that I pointed out about Chelsea, the quality of Chelsea's two goals last week.
We've not had as good a day overall as we would have expected, but the outstanding quality of Morten's goal certainly wasn't a fluke, we ask him to put the ball there because it is such a dangerous delivery.
The second goal was outstanding as well by Brett Emerton particularly and Jason getting in there to finish at a very good time for us.
We've only scored two for the second time in the Barclays Premier League this season and it showed how important it was because Wigan sneaked one back and made life difficult for us but in the end we managed to hold out.
We certainly weren't firing on all cylinders today, I could feel the players getting a little nervous and edgy in training this week, so I said to them it is all about winning, if we don't play well just make sure we get the win and that is what we did.
Overall it is a great result, but not as good a performance, I'm happy I'm saying it that way around. Obviously we want to play well and win but if we don't play quite so well then just make sure we win.
The Table
| Latest match Saturday, 6th November 2010 |
Pld | Home | Away | Overall | Pts | GD | |||||||||||||||||
| W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | |||||||||
| 1 | Chelsea | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 27 | 3 | 25 | +24 | ||||
| 2 | Manchester United | 11 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 24 | 13 | 23 | +11 | ||||
| 3 | Arsenal | 10 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 10 | 20 | +12 | ||||
| 4 | Manchester City | 10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 10 | 17 | +3 | ||||
| 5 | Bolton Wanderers | 11 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 17 | 16 | 15 | +1 | ||||
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 11 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 14 | 15 | -1 | ||||
| 7 | Sunderland | 11 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 11 | 12 | 15 | -1 | ||||
| 8 | West Bromwich Albion | 10 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 15 | -3 | ||||
| 9 | Newcastle United | 10 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 19 | 14 | 14 | +5 | ||||
| 10 | Everton | 11 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 10 | 14 | +2 | ||||
| 11 | Blackpool | 11 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 23 | 14 | -6 | ||||
| 12 | Fulham | 11 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 12 | 13 | +1 | ||||
| 13 | Aston Villa | 11 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 13 | -4 | ||||
| 14 | Birmingham City | 11 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 14 | 12 | -2 | ||||
| 15 | Blackburn Rovers | 11 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 13 | 12 | -2 | ||||
| 16 | Liverpool | 10 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 12 | -4 | ||||
| 17 | Stoke City | 11 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 16 | 10 | -6 | ||||
| 18 | Wigan Athletic | 11 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 20 | 10 | -12 | ||||
| 19 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 11 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 18 | 9 | -7 | ||||
| 20 | West Ham United | 11 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 20 | 7 | -11 | ||||
Next Game
Next up for the Latics is the visit of Liverpool on Wednesday evening. A repeat of last season's 1-0 win would be most welcome for Roberto Martinez.