It was this switch, fifteen minutes into the second half that cost the Latics dear.
Following the withdrawal of McCarthy for Thomas, Jason Scotland (who was having a decent game) was taken off and the enigmatic Jordi Gomez took his place. Stand up Roberto Martinez for handing Tony Pulis and Stoke a point.
At the same time, Pulis withdrew Rory Delap and put on Ricardo Fuller to go with a front three away from home. It was now that we wanted the full time whistle as things were only going to go one way.
Gomez went on to play the remaining thirty minutes as a passenger is a gmae that flew by in front of his face. His lack of determination and quality was alarmingly obvious to everyone in the crowd.
Further still, Scott Sinclair, Victor Moses and Marcelo Moreno all remained on the bench at this point. The bone-idle Spaniard is starting to rank up with the worst ever Wigan Athletic signings.
For as good as Roberto Martinez has been so far this season - and we have defended him to the hilt on this site - he has without doubt cost us two points yesterday.
Ignore all the positive spin Bob has put on the result. There was no resolve and no character from a certain Gomez as the remaining ten players were made to take on the work of eleven and fight for whatever they could.
It is no wonder players such as N'Zogbia and Rodallega get frustrated when they look over and see Gomez playing alongside them. The sooner he is banished to the reserves to learn how to try the better.
Titus Bramble, sporting the captains armband, had a right go at Gomez after the Stoke equalizer. It is presumed that the Spaniard also failed to get back and support Emmerson Boyce as Tuncay Sanili was allowed a free header twelve yards out to equalise.
Things could have got even worse as Gomez pranced around. Sidibie hit the bar and Beattie tested Kirkland with an impressive volley from twenty yards.
Moreno made another cameo appearance at the end, and Moses was an unusued substitute. On view of tonights game, those two and Sinclair are head and shoulders above Jordi Gomez.
The game had started brightly for the Latics and it looked like we could go on to win by two or three goals. The football was flowing and the chances were coming.
However in typical Wigan Athletic fashion, these chances were not converted and the ultimate price was paid. With a slender one goal lead, the Latics started their usual collapse and Stoke gradually grew into the game.
This culminated in the arrival of the aforementioned lazy Spanish midfielder, and the equaliser from Tuncay.
To put a final nail in his coffin, if he were a race horse, he would be put down, Gomez should not be allowed near a Wigan Athletic shirt at all costs.
Anyway, here is the reaction of the two managers.
Roberto Martinez
We can be very pleased with the way we controlled the ball in the first half and got ourselves a deserved lead. We expected Stoke to come out in the second half and put us under a lot of pressure, and a few things didn't go our way.
Young James McCarthy damaged his hamstring and we couldn't get hold of the ball after he went off to take the sting out of the game. The pitch also started to cut up, which didn't help our style of play.
But the character we showed after we conceded was great, and it is another point that will allow us to carry on growing and getting better. We tried to change it towards the end when we put Marcelo (Moreno) on, and that gave us a little bit more of a physical presence up front.
In their position, Stoke are on a good run and had nothing to lose and had a proper go at us. The partnership in the middle of the park between Mohamed Diame and James McCarthy worked really well and allowed Paul Scharner to go forward.
And not being able to continue that in the second half hurt us and in many ways gave a lot of momentum to Stoke. We have to learn from this situation, and we have a lot of games between now and the end of the season and a lot of points to play for.
We can't be anxious, we can't be in a position where we feel we have something to lose. When you are so dominant in a game, like we were in the first half, it is vital to score goals when you are on top.
When Stoke put a lot of pressure on us in the second half, maybe a few weeks ago we would not have been able to keep them out. I am very frustrated but I am also very, very pleased with many aspects.
Tony Pulis
We had a slow start, I think Wigan started the better of the two teams and looked pretty comfortable for a while. But we stepped it up after they got the goal - the goal was disappointing it was a set play - and second half I thought we were the team that were really, really pushing not only to get the equaliser but to win the game. I'm just disappointed, it's something again you hope doesn't happen, if they score a good goal you hold your hands up but set-plays, it's really someone doing their jobs and taking responsibility. But having said that, I thought second half we were very, very good. We're pleased but its 40 points, everybody needs that cushion and we've got to strive now to get those 40 points. Its eight games now we've gone unbeaten, it's a smashing run but we've got to drive on now. We've got two tough games against Man City - one in the cup and then one in the league - and a tough trip down to Portsmouth.
The table
| Latest match Tuesday, 9th February 2010 |
Pld | Home | Away | Overall | Pts | GD | |||||||||||||||||
| W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | |||||||||
| 1 | Chelsea | 25 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 21 | 12 | 18 | 4 | 3 | 60 | 20 | 58 | +40 | ||||
| 2 | Manchester United | 25 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 36 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 25 | 12 | 18 | 2 | 5 | 61 | 20 | 56 | +41 | ||||
| 3 | Arsenal | 25 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 35 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 25 | 16 | 15 | 4 | 6 | 60 | 30 | 49 | +30 | ||||
| 4 | Liverpool | 25 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 31 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 15 | 13 | 5 | 7 | 43 | 26 | 44 | +17 | ||||
| 5 | Manchester City | 24 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 30 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 18 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 47 | 32 | 44 | +15 | ||||
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 25 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 28 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 17 | 17 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 45 | 25 | 43 | +20 | ||||
| 7 | Aston Villa | 24 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 31 | 18 | 41 | +13 | ||||
| 8 | Birmingham City | 24 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 16 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 24 | 24 | 37 | 0 | ||||
| 9 | Fulham | 26 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 20 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 30 | 28 | 34 | +2 | ||||
| 10 | Everton | 24 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 18 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 20 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 33 | 35 | 32 | -2 | ||||
| 11 | Stoke City | 24 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 18 | 13 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 23 | 27 | 30 | -4 | ||||
| 12 | Blackburn Rovers | 25 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 31 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 25 | 43 | 28 | -18 | ||||
| 13 | Sunderland | 25 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 13 | 28 | 6 | 8 | 11 | 32 | 42 | 26 | -10 | ||||
| 14 | Wigan Athletic | 24 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 15 | 34 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 26 | 49 | 24 | -23 | ||||
| 15 | Hull City | 25 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 18 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 30 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 25 | 50 | 24 | -25 | ||||
| 16 | Burnley | 25 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 8 | 38 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 25 | 50 | 23 | -25 | ||||
| 17 | Bolton Wanderers | 24 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 17 | 23 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 23 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 29 | 46 | 22 | -17 | ||||
| 18 | West Ham United | 24 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 20 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 20 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 30 | 40 | 21 | -10 | ||||
| 19 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 24 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 25 | 5 | 6 | 13 | 20 | 42 | 21 | -22 | ||||
| 20 | Portsmouth | 25 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 15 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 24 | 4 | 4 | 17 | 20 | 42 | 16 | -22 | ||||
Next game
Next up for the Latics is the visit of Bolton Wanderers next Wednesday. Neither side is on form and this local derby is a must win for either side.