Wigan 0-1 Sunderland

Sunderland took another step towards a Premiership return with a hard-fought win away at promotion rivals Wigan.

Marcus Stewart scored after just three minutes from a Liam Lawrence cross, but Wigan's players claimed the ball had gone out of play in the build-up.

Wigan pushed for an equaliser but struggled to create clear-cut chances against a resolute Sunderland defence, cheered on by 7,500 visiting fans.

The defeat sees Wigan slip out of the automatic promotion places.

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Wigan boss Paul Jewell:
"Confidence comes from nowhere but it is my job to lift the players now.

"We are playing for second place now and I am still hopeful.

"If someone offered me the opportunity of it not being decided until the final game, I would snatch their hands off."

Sunderland boss Mick McCarthy:
"The goal happened right in front of me and I didn't think it had gone out.

"I was screaming at Liam Lawrence to play on and he put over a fantastic ball which Marcus finished off.

"The truth is Alan Mahon should not have stopped. You tell every schoolboy to play to the whistle. That is what I was taught as a kid."

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Wigan: Filan, Eaden, Jackson, Breckin, Baines, Teale (Jarrett 64), Kavanagh, Bullard, Mahon (Ormerod 45), Roberts, Ellington.
Subs Not Used: Walsh, McMillan, Wright.

Sunderland: Myhre, Wright, Breen, Caldwell, McCartney (Danny Collins 73), Robinson, Lawrence, Whitehead, Arca, Brown, Stewart (Elliott 82).
Subs Not Used: Deane, Thornton, Alnwick.

Goals: Stewart 3.

Att: 20,745.

Ref: A Marriner (W Midlands).