Wigan manager Shaun Maloney admitted the 1-0 Sky Bet League One victory over Reading – which opens up an eight-point buffer over their fourth-bottom opponents – was a “really big win” in a “really big game”.
Norway Under-21 international Thelo Aasgaard scored what proved to be the only goal just after the half-hour mark with a brilliant strike from the edge of the area.
Despite the visitors coming on strong in the second half, they were unable to restore parity, with Young England goalkeeper Sam Tickle making an outstanding save at the end to deny Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan.
“It was a really big win, you could probably tell by the second half, and the anxiety in the stands,” said Maloney.
“It was a really big game, and we had to show both sides.
“The first half, I really liked, we created two or three opportunities that, on another day if we’d taken, could have made it a very different story.
“But that’s football, Reading knew it was a big game as well, and they threw everything at us in that second half.
“We required a big save from our goalkeeper right at the end, and also a massive amount of effort across the board.
“We had to show both sides today, because there’s not too much between the two teams.
“I like their manager, I like how he coaches, and thankfully we came out on the positive side of the result.
“We got beat 2-0 at Reading just before Christmas, and I was actually really happy with the way we played in large parts of the game.
“The first half here felt similar, very good defensively, but this time we had a little bit more in attack.”
For Reading boss Ruben Selles – with even more off-field worries to contend with than on -field – it was a case of what might have been.
“I think we did enough to get a point there, we certainly created enough situations,” he said.
“The first half was 50/50, there were some moments for us and some moments for them.
“We had a big chance just before the half-time, and then they score their goal.
“The second half we dominated the game and we created plenty of situations.
“Of course, we can do even more, but I think we did enough to pick up at least one point.
“We are working day to day at the moment, every thought has been about today, and now it switches to tomorrow.
“We will see what that brings, and at all times trying to focus on the football rather than the other things.
“But I don’t want to keep on making excuses for not getting points, because I think we are good enough to play against most teams and compete against them.”
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
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