Match ends, Blackburn Rovers 0, Wigan Athletic 0.
Blackburn lost top scorer Bradley Dack to what appeared to be a serious knee injury as Wigan moved off the foot of the Championship with a goalless draw at Ewood Park.
Dack, who has scored nine league goals for Rovers this season, had to be taken off on a stretcher after going down clutching his knee on the touchline midway through the second half.
Rovers could have snatched all three points soon after as Danny Graham's header hit the bar, but the draw extended their unbeaten run to seven games and moved them up two places to eighth.
Both sides created countless chances to win it in a thrilling late finale but Rovers stopper Christian Walton and his Wigan counterpart Jamie Jones each made several fine saves to keep the score blank.
Walton, who spent the past two seasons on loan at Wigan from Brighton before making the temporary switch to Blackburn in the summer, made superb stops from Sam Morsy's curler and Cedric Kipre's point-blank header.
Jones, who had vied with Walton for Wigan's number one shirt for much of the past two years, was not to be outdone, thwarting Joe Rothwell, Darragh Lenihan and Lewis Holtby as Rovers ended strongly.
Arguably the best chance of an end-to-end final few minutes fell to Wigan's Jamal Lowe but he nodded Josh Windass' cross wide from inside the six-yard box.
The lively Lowe had also fizzed inches wide from distance earlier as the Latics, whose winless run stretched to 11 games, came close to a first away win of the season that would have moved them out of the bottom three.
They did keep a first clean sheet in 33 matches to move above Stoke and into 23rd, although that owed somewhat to the woodwork as Graham's header from Holtby's cross came back off the bar with Jones beaten.
But Rovers were well below their best and could well be without the services of leading marksman Dack for some time, given the agony he was in when the injury occurred.
Blackburn Rovers boss Tony Mowbray told BBC Radio Lancashire:
"This league is there for everyone to see. Teams at either end of the league can give you problems.
"Wigan are a good side, I don't see them being in the bottom three at the end of the season.
"They gave us a lot of problems, particularly in the first half. That showed their quality. That said I think we played well and their keeper made some amazing saves."
On Bradley Dack's injury: "I won't say what it might be or what it is. Let's see what a proper diagnosis or scan shows but at this moment it doesn't look good."
Wigan manager Paul Cook:
"I think both sides had moments in the game, for sure. Danny Graham's hit the bar, Jamie (Jones) has made a couple of saves.
"We've had our moments so while you're always disappointed, I think there's so much positivity around the last three performances, it's untrue.
"We look anything but a team that hasn't won and lacking in confidence. Unfortunately, we're not getting those wins that you need, but there's a long way to go in the season.
"I don't think many people gave us much of a chance here tonight. To come and play the way we did, the players can be quite proud of their performance."
Line-ups
Blackburn
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Walton
- 2Nyambe
- 26Lenihan
- 3Williams
- 19Downing
- 29EvansSubstituted forJohnsonat 60'minutes
- 27Travis
- 7A ArmstrongSubstituted forGallagherat 80'minutes
- 23DackSubstituted forHoltbyat 68'minutes
- 8RothwellBooked at 90mins
- 10Graham
Substitutes
- 4Johnson
- 9Gallagher
- 13Leutwiler
- 17Bell
- 20Brereton
- 22Holtby
- 31Bennett
Wigan
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 23Jones
- 2Byrne
- 21Kipre
- 33Naismith
- 3Robinson
- 8Evans
- 5MorsyBooked at 38mins
- 11MasseySubstituted forWilliamsat 62'minutes
- 9Lowe
- 17JacobsSubstituted forDunkleyat 87'minutes
- 10WindassBooked at 88mins
Substitutes
- 1Marshall
- 4MacLeod
- 7Pilkington
- 14Garner
- 18Roberts
- 20Williams
- 22Dunkley
- Referee:
- Gavin Ward
- Attendance:
- 18,726
Match Stats
- Possession
- Home53%
- Away47%
- Shots
- Home10
- Away12
- Shots on Target
- Home4
- Away4
- Corners
- Home7
- Away5
- Fouls
- Home12
- Away14
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Blackburn Rovers 0, Wigan Athletic 0.
Booking
Joe Rothwell (Blackburn Rovers) is shown the yellow card.
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Foul by Danny Graham (Blackburn Rovers).
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Kal Naismith (Wigan Athletic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Sam Gallagher (Blackburn Rovers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Jamal Lowe (Wigan Athletic).
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Corner, Blackburn Rovers. Conceded by Jamie Jones.
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Attempt saved. Lewis Holtby (Blackburn Rovers) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
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Corner, Blackburn Rovers. Conceded by Kal Naismith.
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Attempt missed. Jamal Lowe (Wigan Athletic) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Josh Windass with a cross.
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Corner, Wigan Athletic. Conceded by Derrick Williams.
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Attempt blocked. Sam Morsy (Wigan Athletic) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Lee Evans.
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Derrick Williams (Blackburn Rovers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Josh Windass (Wigan Athletic).
Booking
Josh Windass (Wigan Athletic) is shown the yellow card.
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Offside, Wigan Athletic. Jamal Lowe tries a through ball, but Josh Windass is caught offside.
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Attempt blocked. Lewis Holtby (Blackburn Rovers) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Substitution
Substitution, Wigan Athletic. Cheyenne Dunkley replaces Michael Jacobs.
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Corner, Blackburn Rovers. Conceded by Kal Naismith.