Report by John Patrick Heeley

Wigan failed to find the back of the net after scoring 7 goals in their previous two outings and into the bargain also failed to register a third successive victory, something they haven't achieved in well over 12 months.

The conditions at the JJB Stadium didn't really help matters much with a strong wind swirling around the ground that must of hindered the players but you still can't get away from the fact that the game itself was lifeless with Wigan only really showing any kind of want in the final five minutes or so.

Matt Jackson returned to the side for the first time since dislocating his kneecap against Brighton six weeks ago and slotted into the back four alongside Arjan De Zeeuw, Jason De Vos and Ian Nolan, playing his first senior game since mid August.

Gary Teale continued to partner Lee McCulloch in the forward line in the absence of the injured Andy Liddell with Paul Dalglish again starting the game in midfield.

Missing from Paul Jewell's squad were Scott Green and Simon Haworth who had both apparantly gone down with the flu meaning Ian Johnson and Ian Pendlebury were included in the substitutes alongside Lee Ashcroft who was named in the squad for the first time since he limped off the field against Chestefield back in November.

The first real chance of the game fell Wigan's way when Ged Brannan collected the ball 20 yards out but his shot went wide of the upright.

The action moved to the opposite end of the field with Arjan De Zeeuw, rock solid as ever, putting the ball out for a corner as he denied Darren Currie from getting on the end of a Jermaine McSporran cross to the far post.

Wigan cleared the corner but only as far as Dannie Bulman who sent McSporran on a run down the left wing before he cut inside to test John Filan forcing him into a save at the near post at the expense of another corner.

The corner was sent over by Darren Currie and it took two attempts for John Filan to collect with the visitors feeling that the ball had crossed the line but the North East official disagreed and waved play on.

The Wycombe keeper was in fine form and was on hand to deny both Peter Kennedy and Gary Teale with little over 10 minutes on the clock.

Leading the attack for the visitors was Sean Devine who had returned to the squad only a month ago after missing all last season and most of this with a serious injury that almost finished his career and the prolific goalscorer forced John Filan into action after 14 minutes when his powerful shot was blocked by the Wigan keeper.

Wigan went close to breaking the deadlock from a Peter Kennedy free kick on the right flank after Paul Dalglish had been brought down by former Burnley and Rangers defender Chris Vinnicombe. Kennedy's inswinger almost caught Wycombe off guard forcing Taylor into a diving save.

Jason De Vos got himself into a decent forward position and struck a powerful shot on goal but saw his effort sail over the bar.

The second half started slowly and it wasn't until 7 minutes after the restart before any chance of note fell to either side when Lee McCulloch saw an attempt on goal blocked by Vinnicombe in a packed penalty area.

Five minutes later Peter Kennedy was extremely unlucky when Taylor pulled off an excellent save to tip the Northern Ireland international midfielder's free kick over the bar as it threatened to sneak in.

McCulloch had another crack on goal with around 20 minutes remaining but the former Derby shotstopper positioned himself well and collected the ball without much difficulty.

Latics had the first of two decent penalty appeals turned down as the game entered the final 10 minutes when substitute Lee Ashcroft appeared to have been fouled in the area

Two minutes later Filan was called into action again when he parried a shot from McSporran on the break, Matt Jackson was on hand to clear the loose ball.

As the game drew to a close Wigan could feel slightly cheated when the referee refused to listen to their second appeal for a penalty when the ball was almost certainly handled in the area.

Lawrie Sanchez decided to throw on defender Keith Ryan in place of striker Sean Devine as he seemed happy to settle for the point, their first on Wigan soil since November 1998, also a goalless draw, at Springfield Park.