Here is the reaction of the two managers.
Roberto Martinez
If you drop your concentration in games like we did in the second-half you'll get punished in this league.
We came to Fulham with a brave and positive approach, worked very hard and got our noses in front. Then, all of a sudden, two lapses of concentration in the second-half really cost us.
It's disappointing because our performance deserved more, but it was a self-inflicted defeat and that's the hard part to take.
We knew Fulham were going to push us for an equaliser after the break and we conceded through our own faults. You have to stay concentrated in those circumstances and stay on top of the game.
The hardest part of the game is to get in-front, which we did. But after that we gave two goals away and made it difficult to get back into the game.
We had to change things round a few times to try and find new ways through Fulham.
They were getting behind the ball quickly which made it difficult to expose them, and I don't think we got into the right positions enough after going behind to threaten them.
When you're outplayed and opened up by teams you accept that you were second-best, but to gift the opposition two goals that lose you the game is difficult to take.
Scoring from open-play against Fulham is not an easy task, and so I was delighted with his [Scotland's] strike. Jason deserves that for the hard-work he's done in every role he's played.
Getting the first-goal in a game is always important and so we're all delighted for Jason, it's just a shame it couldn't have been rewarded with three points to go with it.
Roy Hodgson
The first-half performance was way below the levels we set ourselves, but I know how much our players are putting into the Europa League matches and I wasn't surprised.
But the players dug deep, and that speaks volumes for their character. Bobby Zamora is suffering with a kicked achilles, but I'll be very disappointed if he isn't fit to face Wolfsburg.
The crowd has been fantastic but you do hope sometimes that people show some degree of understanding for the level of difficulty people are being faced with.
I am just taking the moment really to remind the fans we do still try to give them everything but there is going to come a time in these last six games when I'm pretty sure we will disappoint them.
I am afraid that sooner or later there is going to be a performance like the first half against Wigan which goes on for 90 minutes and we lose two or three-nil at home because these things are written in the stars.
No team can go on and on and on. I am bit annoyed with myself for talking about it. I am just making the point that we have done so much this year that I know that sooner or later, we are going to hit a barrier that we are incapable of surmounting.
The table
| Latest match Sunday, 4th April 2010 |
Pld | Home | Away | Overall | Pts | GD | |||||||||||||||||
| W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | |||||||||
| 1 | Chelsea | 33 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 52 | 14 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 32 | 16 | 23 | 5 | 5 | 84 | 30 | 74 | +54 | ||||
| 2 | Manchester United | 33 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 45 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 32 | 16 | 23 | 3 | 7 | 77 | 27 | 72 | +50 | ||||
| 3 | Arsenal | 33 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 44 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 31 | 19 | 22 | 5 | 6 | 75 | 34 | 71 | +41 | ||||
| 4 | Manchester City | 32 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 33 | 16 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 31 | 24 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 64 | 40 | 59 | +24 | ||||
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 32 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 35 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 23 | 22 | 17 | 7 | 8 | 58 | 32 | 58 | +26 | ||||
| 6 | Liverpool | 33 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 40 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 14 | 20 | 16 | 7 | 10 | 54 | 33 | 55 | +21 | ||||
| 7 | Aston Villa | 32 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 26 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 18 | 19 | 14 | 12 | 6 | 44 | 32 | 54 | +12 | ||||
| 8 | Everton | 33 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 32 | 20 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 20 | 24 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 52 | 44 | 50 | +8 | ||||
| 9 | Birmingham City | 33 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 17 | 26 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 34 | 38 | 46 | -4 | ||||
| 10 | Stoke City | 32 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 23 | 19 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 32 | 35 | 42 | -3 | ||||
| 11 | Blackburn Rovers | 33 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 24 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 36 | 11 | 9 | 13 | 35 | 50 | 42 | -15 | ||||
| 12 | Fulham | 32 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 24 | 12 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 25 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 35 | 37 | 41 | -2 | ||||
| 13 | Sunderland | 33 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 30 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 14 | 34 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 44 | 51 | 38 | -7 | ||||
| 14 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 33 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 20 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 18 | 31 | 8 | 8 | 17 | 28 | 51 | 32 | -23 | ||||
| 15 | Bolton Wanderers | 33 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 22 | 28 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 33 | 8 | 8 | 17 | 36 | 61 | 32 | -25 | ||||
| 16 | Wigan Athletic | 33 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 16 | 44 | 8 | 7 | 18 | 30 | 64 | 31 | -34 | ||||
| 17 | West Ham United | 33 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 25 | 26 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 31 | 6 | 10 | 17 | 40 | 57 | 28 | -17 | ||||
| 18 | Hull City | 32 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 21 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 10 | 44 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 31 | 66 | 27 | -35 | ||||
| 19 | Burnley | 33 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 21 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 11 | 47 | 6 | 6 | 21 | 32 | 71 | 24 | -39 | ||||
| 20 | Portsmouth (-9) | 33 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 20 | 29 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 31 | 6 | 5 | 22 | 28 | 60 | 14 | -32 | ||||
Next game
Next up for the Latics is the visit of bottom club Portsmouth on Wednesday 14th April. A win in this one would go a very long way to securing safety.