Jewell blasts Latics critics

Latics recorded their sixth consecutive league win at the weekend, beating Huddersfield 1-0 at the JJB Stadium.

But that hasn't stopped some pundits having a pop at the leaders, describing them as lucky for being at the summit.

But Jewell responded: "People keep chipping away at us, saying we are not a good side and that we are lucky.

"But long may they keep saying that – perhaps it is better to be lucky than talented.

"The performances might not be there at the moment, but the form is because we have won six straight league games.

De Vos: Winner

"We have now got 50 points after 22 games and we have not lost many this season."

The sixth win on the bounce equalled a club record set in 1987/88, while goalkeeper John Filan's clean sheet against Huddersfield re-wrote the Wigan history books.

He has not conceded a league goal for six games, beating the previous record set by John Brown in Latics' first season in the Football League.

A header from skipper Jason de Vos in first half stoppage time proved enough to give them victory on Saturday in a dour game. Huddersfield came to defend and Jewell believes many more teams will try and use that tactic at the JJB over the coming months.

"I was pleased to get three points as we struggled from start to finish," said the manager.

"Teams are going to come here and try and frustrate us, and that is what Huddersfield did. They got a lot of men back behind the ball and made it difficult for us.

"We're going to get more games like that with teams looking to frustrate us and frustrate the crowd.

"On Saturday, we scored our goal at the right time because it was a kick in the teeth for Huddersfield.

"Their plan had worked well, they had one or two chances, but suddenly they found themselves behind on the stroke of half-time.

"We've scored a lot of goals from set-plays and it's nice to see hard work on the training ground coming to fruition in games."

McCulloch: Good to see him back

Jewell welcomed back Andy Liddell and Lee McCulloch into the squad on Saturday after lengthy absences, both coming on as second half substitutes.

For McCulloch, his 64th minute appearance ended eight frustrating weeks on the sidelines with a cracked bone in his ankle.

He said: "I'm so happy to be back playing and I'm looking forward to playing a few games to get my match fitness.

"I trained for two days last week and got a place on the bench, and I was knackered for the last couple of minutes!

"After a couple more games I should get my match fitness back and hopefully get back to form."

Article courtesy of the Wigan Evening Post.