What the Papers Say

Although not pretty at times, a win is a win. Emile Heskey celebrated his 500th league appearance by scoring his first goal of the season for Wigan, and thanks to a great stop by England goalkeeper Chris Kirkland after Leroy Lita went clean through, the Latics held on for that all important first league victory.

Here is what a selection of the national media thought about Wigan's victory on Saturday.

The Mirror

JJB Heskey

Heskey: Good reviews in the Papers

Emile Heskey reckons Jewell and his new team-mates at the JJB Stadium have helped rekindle his love for the game. Jewell loves the challenge of coaxing former heroes back to their best. He paid £5.5million for the chance to do that with Heskey and already the big striker has proved a match-winner.

Heskey struck his 123rd career goal by slotting home after Lee McCulloch's clever flick into the box. Heskey also hit the bar and lobbed over when clean through in the second half.

But the win was hard fought and Wigan keeper Chris Kirkland had to make an England-class save to keep out Leroy Lita's shot late on. Jewell believes Kirkland will push Paul Robinson all the way for the England No.1 spot if he stays fit.

The Independent

Jewell's familiar directing skills offer Heskey a route back to the future

Emile Heskey, never entirely comfortable within the footballing cauldron that is Anfield and rarely able to produce his best during an inconsistent spell with Birmingham City, insists that he has finally found his home from home. It is six years since one of English football's brightest prospects departed Leicester City for Liverpool but, at 28, the Wigan Athletic forward firmly believes he has gone back to the future.

On another day Heskey could have marked his home debut for Wigan with a hat-trick but a leaner, meaner and keener version of the dispirited soul who departed St Andrew's for £5.5m this summer was, nevertheless, delighted with his winning goal.

The Sun

Wigan 1 Reading 0

Ten years ago Martin O'Neill convinced a teenage striker at Leicester he could be a huge talent in the game.

he name was Emile Heskey and he duly moved to Liverpool for £11million. It was pretty much downhill all the way after that, despite 43 caps for England. But now Heskey believes he has found O'Neill Mk II in the shape of Paul Jewell.

“Paul Jewell reminds me of Martin O'Neill. He has told me to play with a smile on my face. Wigan is like it was at Leicester. We are a family, we all play for each other."

The Observer

Nervy Heskey has a hit and miss Day

Reading the new Wigan? Not on this evidence, which suggests that they are better off at home or that Middlesbrough's defence is very porous indeed.

The visitors never looked like scoring a goal here, let alone mounting a comeback once Wigan had taken the lead. The Royals might have all the team spirit and solidarity that Wigan demonstrated so effectively last season, but Paul Jewell also made sure that even away from home his side carried a goal threat. It was the ability to score unexpected goals that enabled Wigan to gatecrash so many parties last season, whereas Steve Coppell's players look too polite and respectful to cause many upsets.