Wigan boss Paul Cook admits he would have taken a point against high-flying Middlesbrough after watching the two sides play out a 0-0 draw at the DW Stadium.
The Latics are now five games unbeaten in the Sky Bet Championship – including four draws – but saw their buffer over the bottom three cut to just three points.
Nevertheless, Cook feels a point against a Boro side he has tipped to win promotion to the Premier League is not to be sniffed at.
“I would suggest that was a fair result,” he said. “If someone had offered us a point before the game, we’d have taken it.
“With the calibre of player they have, and the threat they pose, we knew there would be times where we had to defend.
“The lads did that relatively well, and the game has panned out pretty much how we expected.
“It was always going to need a flair player to produce a moment of magic to win the game, and neither team were able to do that.
“You know how tough the league is, the teams are so strong, none more so than the team we’ve played today.
“For any team to go five games unbeaten, you’re doing something okay.
“Having said that, obviously we would like some more points on the board.”
Boro boss Tony Pulis was left to bemoan two gilt-edged opportunities in either half – from Britt Assombalonga and Ashley Fletcher – for dropping two points.
“We scored a goal at a good time at Blackburn recently, and we went on to control the game,” he said.
“We needed to do that here, but we didn’t.
“They set themselves up really, really solid. They changed their shape and certainly got people behind the ball and made it difficult for us.
“We needed that goal, which would have opened the game up, and I’m sure we would have gone on from there.”
Wigan had chances of their own, with Sam Morsy being denied early on by a brilliant save from Darren Randolph, and Leon Clarke heading a Lee Evans cross just wide in the second period.
But the Teessiders looked the more likely to nick it at the death, with Fletcher having a late effort chalked off for a blatant push on Cedric Kipre prior to sliding the ball past Jamie Jones.
“The players have given it everything again,” he added. “There’s no easy games in this league, coming to Wigan is not easy – not with the results they’ve had here.
“But you need to take your chances, and it’s the same old story.
“We had more opportunities again today, I saw four occasions when we could have played people in.
“They’re simple passes, and we’re overplaying.
“And when we do get the really clear scoring opportunities, liker we did, we’ve got to be scoring them.”
