Wigan Athletic 0 Mansfield Town 0 - Tuesday 3rd November 2026

Latics earn a point but chances go begging

Report by John Patrick Heeley

Wigan Athletic had to settle for a point as Mansfield Town held the Latics to a goalless draw at The Brick Community Stadium.

Gary Caldwell's side produced a determined performance and arguably had the better opportunities to claim all three points, but a combination of missed chances and resolute Mansfield defending ensured that the spoils were shared.

The result extends Wigan's unbeaten run to two matches following Saturday's victory over Bromley, although there was understandable frustration that Latics could not turn their promising spells into a much-needed home win.

Mansfield made the brighter start and Joe Whitworth was called into action during the opening stages, producing an important save to keep out Rhys Oates' low effort.

Wigan gradually grew into the contest and came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock when Bradley Burrowes found himself in a promising position inside the Mansfield penalty area. His goalbound effort, however, was blocked by team-mate Scott Hogan.

Burrowes had another excellent opportunity shortly before the interval. Racing through on goal, the Wigan forward had the chance to put the Latics ahead but could only direct his effort straight at Mansfield goalkeeper Liam Roberts.

It was a costly miss, particularly as Mansfield immediately threatened at the other end. Michael Smith found himself unmarked just six yards from goal but could only head straight into the hands of Whitworth.

The sides went into the interval level, with both having opportunities to take control of the game.

Hogan was unable to continue following a heavy knock and was replaced by Christian Saydee, with Wigan looking to find the breakthrough after the restart.

The second half proved a much tighter affair, with Mansfield working hard to disrupt Wigan's rhythm and prevent the home side from finding space in dangerous areas.

Caldwell's men continued to look for a way through, while Saydee offered a fresh attacking option from the bench.

However, Mansfield's defensive organisation proved difficult to break down, with the visitors determined to leave with something to show for their efforts.

Despite Wigan's attempts to force a late winner, neither side could find the decisive moment and the referee's final whistle confirmed a goalless draw.

While the Latics will undoubtedly feel that the opportunity was there to secure another home victory, the clean sheet and another point provide something to build upon as the League One campaign continues.

Wigan manager Gary Caldwell admitted his side were frustrated not to take maximum points but was encouraged by the overall performance and defensive resilience. 

Speaking after the game, Caldwell said: "It was a frustrating night in all. Early on, it looked like two tired teams, who were playing Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday. You can sometimes get that with a quick turnaround.

"I thought overall we were the better team, and if anyone was going to win the game, it was us. So a little bit frustrating in that regard, but plenty of positives. A clean sheet, and the way we controlled the game was good against their biggest, most physical team they could have picked."

"They came here with a clear intention to really get in amongst us and put us under pressure, and we stood up to that extremely well."

Caldwell also felt his players could have made better use of the space available in the wide areas. "If there's one thing I thought we could have done more, it's use the wide areas, and use the space that a man-for-man team gives you. But I thought we stood still a bit. We didn't play and run."

"We created two great chances, the first for Brad, which Scotty somehow gets in the way of, and then there was the one when Brad ran in behind, which is something we'd worked on for this game.

"So I thought we created the better chances, but just couldn't find that goal. We had a lot of shots, but not enough on target, and not with the amount of quality we would like. We take a point and we move on."