All the latest action from the English top-flight, including Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea

Goodison Park, 3pm, Sunday 5 April

Daniel Greenwood, Observer reader When Everton were knocked out of the Uefa cup in September, the prospects for the season were grim. Though I never felt we had the financial clout to uproot any of the Sky-four, a battle for European football is now familiar to us Blues. But, as ever, Moyes has pulled it off. Playing a group of fixtures including Liverpool three times and Arsenal and United in close proximity gave Everton the thirst for the challenge. And now we face a Wigan side looking to steal our spot. The task for any team beneath the top four is to keep an eye over your shoulder, but Moyes also knows that a one-game-at-a-time philosophy breeds success, and believe me, if anyone else knows how to get Champions’ League football, it’s the Stoic Scot. And so we look to beat Wigan and achieve what in September looked so unlikely – a return to the top six.

Due a big game Jô – The Brazilian has impressed with his positive forward play, but his sour time at City has put his progress back by several months.

Paul Farrington, Wiganer.net We had a fortunate 1-0 win over the Toffees at our place earlier in the season and we’d certainly take the same result this time around. We’re still struggling to find form since the January transfer merry-go-round and Amr Zaki isn’t the same player who started the season. Thankfully our defence is strong and there is every chance that if we nick a goal, we can come away with three points. As for Everton, it is an inspiriation to clubs like ourselves that we could one day emulate them and go on to become perennial European candidates. David Moyes has done a very good job and it shows what a little bit of continuity can do for a club. We have certainly learned a great deal from our forray up the table so far this season. It will be nice to see former Latic, Leighton Baines who recently earned a call up to the England squad.

Due a big game Zaki & Mido – Time to let the football do the talking

To take part in the Verdict, email fans@observer.co.uk

• Drogba and Bosingwa to miss Newcastle trip
• Fábregas and Walcott back for Arsenal

Arsenal v Manchester City (Saturday, 3pm)

Arsenal welcome back Cesc Fábregas after three months out with medial knee ligament injury, but the Gunners will have to make do without leading scorer Robin van Persie, who injured his groin while playing for Holland against Scotland last Saturday, and Eduardo who suffered a similar problem while playing for Croatia.

Midfielder Abou Diaby (thigh) is out while Samir Nasri (virus) and Carlos Vela, who has had to make a long journey back from Mexico duty, are also doubtful.

However, Theo Walcott and Emmanuel Adebayor return as does Nicklas Bendtner (knee).

Arsenal (from): Almunia, Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Walcott, Denilson, Fábregas, Arshavin, Bendtner, Adebayor, Fabianski, Djourou, Gibbs, Vela, Eboue, Silvestre, Song, Nasri.

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes could be without striker Craig Bellamy but expects top-scorer Robinho to be fit for selection against Arsenal.

Bellamy is a major doubt with the knee injury that flared up again on international duty with Wales and forced him to miss his country’s midweek defeat to Germany.

Robinho also limped off during Brazil’s 3-0 win over Peru on Wednesday, but Hughes is hopeful the 24-year-old will be available as City try and claim a first away league win since August.

Wayne Bridge could return from a hamstring strain, while Michael Johnson, Martin Petrov, Daniel Sturridge, Benjani and Didi Hamann are all nearing return from injury.

Manchester City (from): Given, Richards, Onuoha, Dunne, Zabaleta, Wright-Phillips, Elano, De Jong, Kompany, Robinho, Bojinov, Bridge, Garrido, Fernandes, Evans, Etuhu, Berti, Vassell, McGivern, Hart.

Blackburn v Tottenham (Saturday, 12.45pm)

Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz is to see a specialist next week if he fails to show signs of a recovery from a knee tendon injury.

The Paraguay international has been out for a month and misses a fifth successive game tomorrow when Tottenham visit Ewood Park for an early afternoon clash in the Premier League.

It is the same situation with midfielder David Dunn, who has been out of action for three weeks with an achilles problem.

Midfielder Vince Grella has returned to training following a groin injury and, although in the squad, tomorrow’s game probably comes too soon for him to figure.

Allardyce’s injury list stretches to four key players, with Brett Emerton and Steven Reid on the long-term casualty list.

Blackburn (from): Robinson, Bunn, Ooijer, Khizanishvili, Nelsen, Samba, Simpson, Warnock, Givet, Olsson, Villanueva, Tugay, Andrews, Diouf, Treacy, Mokoena, McCarthy, Roberts, Pedersen, Grella.

Tottenham club captain Ledley King should be fit for the trip to Ewood Park after resting his suspect knee during the international break.

Alan Hutton returned for Scotland from his foot injury last week but Jermain Defoe is still out, also with a foot complaint, although he is running again.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp will make late checks on players who have been on international duty such as Wilson Palacios, Luka Modric and Darren Bent – who hobbled out of England training this week.

Tottenham (from): Gomes, Cudicini, Corluka, Hutton, Chimbonda, Bale, Assou-Ekotto, King, Woodgate, Dawson, Modric, Jenas, Zokora, Lennon, Huddlestone, Palacios, O’Hara, Bentley, Pavlyuchenko, Campbell, Keane, Bent.

Everton v Wigan (Sunday, 3pm)

Everton manager David Moyes will make a late decision on the fitness of Tim Cahill for Sunday’s visit of Wigan as the midfielder has not yet returned from international duty.

The Australian has spent the last week in Sydney recovering from a calf injury but did not play any part in the Socceroos’ 2-0 win over Uzbekistan on Wednesday.

Moyes is also waiting for the return of American goalkeeper Tim Howard, the only other player yet to make it back after the internationals.

Right-back Tony Hibbert has resumed training after a thigh problem but may not be ready to play against the Latics.

Everton (from): Howard, Neville, Jagielka, Lescott, Baines, Pienaar, Osman, Cahill, Fellaini, Saha, Jo, Rodwell, Baxter, Nash, Castillo, Jacobsen, Gosling, Wallace, Van der Meyde.

Wigan will be without Amr Zaki after the Egyptian striker again failed to return from international duty on time. It is the fourth time this season Zaki has gone walkabout after an Egypt game and looks set to be heavily fined by Steve Bruce as a result.

Jason Koumas has a hip problem which needs to be assessed, otherwise the Latics squad is at full strength.

Wigan (from): Kirkland, Melchiot, Bramble, Boyce, Figueroa, Watson, Brown, Scharner, Kapo, N’Zogbia, De Ridder, Rodallega, Mido, Kingson, Pollitt, Edman, Cho.

Bolton v Middlesbrough (Saturday, 3pm)

Bolton’s players all returned unscathed from international duty leaving midfielders Mark Davies and Joey O’Brien (both knee) the only absentees. Defender Andy O’Brien could feature after being rested in their last game.

Bolton (from): Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, Andy O’Brien, Samuel, Riga, Taylor, McCann, Muamba, Gardner, Kevin Davies, Elmander, Al Habsi, Hunt, Puygrenier, Makukula, Shittu.

Middlesbrough winger Adam Johnson faces a fitness test after picking up two knocks playing for England’s Under-21s. Meanwhile, Chris Riggott returns from injury, midfielder Matthew Bates is back from suspension, but Robert Huth is a doubt with a sore knee.

Middlesbrough (from): Jones, Turnbull, Hoyte, McMahon, Taylor, Grounds, Huth, Pogatetz, Wheater, Riggott, Aliadiere, O’Neil, Johnson, Bates, Walker, Shawky, Downing, Emnes, Alves, Tuncay, King.

Fulham v Liverpool (Saturday, 5.15pm)

Mark Schwarzer and Clint Dempsey will play for Fulham in tomorrow’s clash with Liverpool. Australia goalkeeper Schwarzer and USA winger Dempsey only returned from international duty this morning but have already been involved in training.

Fulham (from): Schwarzer, Pantsil, Stoor, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky, Baird, Davies, Etuhu, Dacourt, Murphy, Gera, Dempsey, Johnson, Zamora, Zuberbuhler, Kallio, Nevland, Kamara, Gray, Barnes.

Liverpool are likely to be without defender Sami Hyypia and midfielder Yossi Benayoun for the trip to Fulham.

Hyypia returned from international duty with a knee injury, and manager Rafael Benítez doubts that the centre-back will be fit for the evening kick-off at Craven Cottage. He could be fit for Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Chelsea, however.

Benayoun went on World Cup qualifying duty with Israel already with a hamstring injury and now also has a calf problem.

Liverpool (from): Reina, Arbeloa, Agger, Carragher, Skrtel, Aurelio, Dossena, Babel, Mascherano, Gerrard, Alonso, Lucas, Torres, Kuyt, Ngog, Insua, Cavalieri, Riera.

Hull v Portsmouth (Saturday, 3pm)

Striker Daniel Cousin is Hull’s only doubt for tomorrow’s visit of Portsmouth. Cousin has missed the last two games with a back complaint and, having not reported for international duty with Gabon, must still prove his fitness.

The club’s other injury concerns, Michael Turner (thigh), Kamil Zayatte (knee), Andy Dawson (thigh) and captain Ian Ashbee (hamstring), are all fit.

George Boateng (knee) is set to return to full training next week but Anthony Gardner (back) and Jimmy Bullard (knee) are out for the season.

Hull (from): Duke, Ricketts, Turner, Zayatte, Dawson, Mendy, Ashbee, Marney, Kilbane, Geovanni, Manucho, Garcia, Barmby, Fagan, Halmosi, Folan, Doyle, Hughes, France, Cousin, Myhill.

Peter Crouch, David James and Glen Johnson have all returned unscathed from England duty for Portsmouth’s clash at Hull and Niko Kranjcar has reported no ill-effects after his efforts for Croatia.

On-loan Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant has recovered from a thigh injury and should return to the attack, enabling Johnson to revert to his more familiar full-back role but Armand Traore’s hopes of a first-team recall have been hit by a damaged ankle playing for France Under-21s.

Reserve goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown is back after three months out with an ankle ligament injury and could return as cover for James on the substitutes’ bench but Jerome Thomas and Marc Wilson picked up further knocks in their midweek comeback attempts for the reserves.

Portsmouth (from): James, Johnson, Campbell, Distin, Hreidarsson, Pennant, Mullins, Davis, Nugent, Kranjcar, Crouch, Kanu, Kaboul, Pamarot, Utaka, Hughes, Belhadj, Basinas, Ashdown, Begovic.

Manchester United v Aston Villa (Sunday, 4pm)

Gary Neville is expected to return for the first time since January as Manchester United look to halt a two-game losing sequence against Aston Villa at Old Trafford.

Neville has been struggling to overcome a groin injury but came through a reserve team outing on Monday without a problem and is set to figure for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side.

Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes and Nemanja Vidic are all suspended, Dimitar Berbatov (ankle) is out for a fortnight and Anderson is not likely to play after picking up a knee injury on World Cup duty with Brazil.

Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Foster, Kuszczak, Neville, O’Shea, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Fabio, Ronaldo, Nani, Fletcher, Gibson, Possebon, Carrick, Park, Giggs, Tevez, Welbeck.

Gabriel Agbonlahor could be restored to the Aston Villa line-up as they look to end a run of eight games without a win in all competitions against Manchester United.

Agbonlahor was left out of the starting XI for the 5-0 mauling by Liverpool at Anfield before the international break with John Carew and Emile Heskey preferred in attack. But Heskey is ruled out with a hamstring injury he suffered after scoring the opening goal in England’s 4-0 win over Slovakia at Wembley last weekend.

O’Neill has to decide whether left-back Wilfred Bouma is ready to play any part after eight months out with a dislocated ankle. He came through a third reserve game in mid-week with no ill effects.

Aston Villa (from): Friedel, Guzan, Reo-Coker, L. Young, Knight, Cuellar, Davies, Shorey, Bouma, Milner, Gardner, Petrov, Barry, Sidwell, Salifou, A. Young, Agbonlahor, Carew, Delfouneso, Heskey.

Newcastle v Chelsea (Saturday, 3pm)

Newcastle manager Alan Shearer hopes to have three key players available for his first game in charge against Chelsea tomorrow.

Steven Taylor (ankle) and Sebastien Bassong (groin) are improving and have not yet been ruled out, while Damien Duff (hamstring) was expected to train today. Danny Guthrie is back in contention after an eight-match lay-off with a torn hamstring and strikers Andy Carroll (ankle) and Xisco (fractured toe) have returned to training.

But Shola Ameobi is out with an ankle problem and Joey Barton (fractured metatarsal), Mark Viduka and Ignacio Gonzalez (both achilles) remain on the sidelines.

Newcastle (from): Kirkland, Melchiot, Bramble, Boyce, Figueroa, Watson, Brown, Scharner, Kapo, N’Zogbia, De Ridder, Rodallega, Mido, Kingson, Pollitt, Edman, Cho.: Harper, Forster, Krul, S Taylor, Beye, Bassong, Coloccini, Enrique, Edgar, Cacapa, Butt, Duff, R Taylor, Gutierrez, Nolan, Guthrie, Lovenkrands, Geremi, Smith, Martins, Owen, Carroll, Xisco.

Chelsea are without striker Didier Drogba and right-back Jose Bosingwa for the trip to Newcastle. Drogba jarred his ankle in a training ground accident while Bosingwa returned from international duty with Portugal suffering from a hamstring strain.

Chelsea are boosted by the return of fit-again Nicolas Anelka. The France international has shaken off his toe problem to be included in the squad.

Chelsea (from): Cech, Hilario, Taylor, Belletti, Alex, Ivanovic, Terry, Mancienne, A Cole, Lampard, Ballack, Deco, Obi, Kalou, Essien, Malouda, Di Santo, Anelka, Quaresma, Stoch.

West Brom v Stoke (Saturday, 3pm)

West Brom defender Abdoulaye Meite returns to the squad for tomorrow’s clash against Stoke.

Meite has recovered from a hamstring problem and illness, although he may have to be content with a place on the bench as manager Tony Mowbray is set to continue with Jonas Olsson and Shelton Martis at the centre of defence. Albion have only conceded one goal in the two games they have played together.

Mowbray looks set to retain the side that started West Brom’s last match – the 1-1 draw against Bolton.

West Brom (from): Carson, Kiely, Zuiverloon, Hoefkens, Olsson, Martis, Donk, Pele, Meite, Robinson, Cech, Koren, Teixeira, Do-Heon, Valero, Brunt, Simpson, Fortune, Bednar, Moore, Menseguez.

Stoke manager Tony Pulis will assess the fitness of his international quartet ahead of tomorrow’s visit to West Brom.

Republic of Ireland duo Glenn Whelan and Stephen Kelly, Senegal star Abdoulaye Faye and Denmark goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen were all due to return to training this morning.

Kelly is likely to be on standby for full-back Andy Wilkinson (back), while Pulis has jet-lag fears over Faye who played in a friendly fixture in Iran.

Amdy Faye will be recalled in central midfield if Salif Diao (groin) fails a fitness test, but striker Mamady Sidibe will play no further part this season after a damaged cruciate ligament was confirmed.

Stoke (from): Sorensen, Wilkinson, Shawcross, Abdoulaye Faye, Higginbotham, Lawrence, Diao, Whelan, Delap, Beattie, Fuller, Simonsen, Etherington, Amdy Faye, Camara, Sonko, Cresswell, Cort, Pugh, Tonge, Griffin, Olofinjana.

West Ham v Sunderland (Saturday, 3pm)

West Ham striker Carlton Cole has a groin injury and may be out for the rest of the season. Scott Parker is carrying a groin problem but may still play, while Radoslav Kovac (thigh) has also picked up a knock.

Central defenders Matthew Upson and James Collins are both fit for selection after missing the last two matches, Savio Nsereko has recovered from a minor knee injury, but Valon Behrami, Jack Collison (both knee) and Danny Gabbidon (back/stomach) are out.

West Ham (from): Green, Neill, Tomkins, Spector, Ilunga, Noble, Parker, Kovac, Boa Morte, López, Tristán, Payne, Di Michele, Dyer, Lastuvka, Sears, N’Gala, Stanislas, Upson, Collins, Savio.

Kieran Richardson returns from suspension for Sunderland’s game against West Ham. But George McCartney is a doubt after sustaining a calf injury in Northern Ireland’s win over Slovenia on Wednesday and Calum Davenport is ineligible because he is on loan from the Hammers.

Ricky Sbragia will give late fitness checks to Kenwyne Jones and Carlos Edwards, who did not get back from international duty in the USA until Friday.

Craig Gordon is pushing for a return after playing for Scotland in midweek and Nyron Nosworthy returns to the squad after coming through a reserve game on Thursday.

Sunderland (from): Fulop, Gordon, Bardsley, Ferdinand, Ben-Haim, Collins, Nosworthy, McCartney, McShane, Edwards, Malbranque, Whitehead, Leadbitter, Richardson, Reid, Murphy, Jones, Healy, Cisse.

The 72-year-old Wigan Athletic chairman is enjoyably outspoken but his club is only the latest in a series of successful projects

Sir Bobby Charlton once described Dave Whelan as a throwback to the times when Victorian mill-owner types still owned Victorian mills as well as their local football club.

He refers to money as “brass”, walks through his factories and warehouses switching off unnecessary lights, says what he thinks without thinking too much about what he is saying and expects loyalty from his workforce whether they be shelf-packers or professional footballers.

As such, the Wigan chairman has been a godsend to football diarists and column writers everywhere. Any press conference is a must-do event, since he is incapable of ducking a question or giving a diplomatically evasive answer. Just last week, for instance, he was advised beforehand to steer clear of the subject of Mike Ashley when he made a public announcement about the change of name of Wigan’s stadium, only to fill reporters’ notebooks almost from the word go with remarks about how the Newcastle owner lacks class and how things were much more dignified under Freddy Shepherd.

The 72-year-old Whelan could hardly complain when newspapers had a field day with this material, gleefully pointing out that a man who made a pile flogging replica shirts through JJB Sports could hardly criticise Ashley for wearing one, while anyone who mentions Shepherd and dignity in the same sentence is simply asking for public ridicule.

Whelan duly got it, although mixed in with the mirth were a few suggestions that the old man might be losing his marbles, or at least succumbing to self-indulgence in renaming the stadium after himself. Fair enough, the DW Stadium does not exactly trip off the tongue, and after the Home Depot Stadium (LA Galaxy) and the Chris Moyles stadium (Featherstone Rovers rugby league, I kid you not) it may well be one of the worst home addresses in sport. But DW does happen to be the name of DW’s new company.

Having bought back into the now ailing JJB, so that in a small but significant way he is now competing against his former company, Whelan needed to come up with a new name for what is now a chain of gyms and fitness centres, with attached leisurewear outlets and a rapidly growing internet operation. He could have just called the business Whelan’s, of course, but that was how he started out in supermarkets in the 1960s, before selling out to Morrisons. In any case the Whelan stadium would scarcely be an improvement on DW. He could have come up with a spurious new name off the shelf, like Winston’s Leisure or Burn Off The Pies, but proud traditionalist that he is, he wanted to keep a thread of continuity and build on what he had already achieved.

The one thing he couldn’t do was keep the JJB name at his stadium. No one goes around giving business rivals free adverts. The new name may not be the most imaginative or evocative around, though it is simply the name of Whelan’s new company. He has not named the stadium after himself in an egotistical bid for posterity, as some have suggested. Had Whelan simply been into promoting himself, he could have changed the name long ago. An egotist, in fact, would never have stuck with JJB for so long.

Those initials are a high-street commonplace now, though originally there was just the tiniest of sports goods retailers called John James Bradburn, whose Wigan business was bought out by Whelan when he realised that the millions made from his supermarkets sale would not stave off boredom in early retirement. That was three decades ago, and the rest is history, though history does not always record that Whelan initially thought squash was the sport to latch on to, because players went through equipment at such a rapid rate. While it didn’t work out quite like that, Whelan found himself in a handy position when the entire country began wearing trainers and then football tops as fashion items.

Perhaps Whelan could keep his mouth shut a bit more, though the Premier League would be that bit less colourful without him. His arch enemy Ashley was supposed to be the colourful addition to the ranks of owners and chairmen, though the Newcastle owner still seems unsure about what it is he has bought into. No one could ever accuse Whelan of that. Bold as, er, brass, he seems to make a success of most things he takes over. Just look at the league table. With Wigan on the verge of Europe, Newcastle fans worried about relegation may like to ponder what might have happened had they been taken over by the other sports retail tycoon. It would never have happened, since Whelan is only interested in supporting his local team, though if it had Newcastle might be preparing for a Champions League quarter-final now. Playing at DW Park seems a small price to pay.

Having already given a ‘phantom goal’ and been demoted after disallowing two for Derby, the 26-year-old was officiating in the Premier League this week and, according to Steve Bruce, ‘ruined the spectacle’. Has he been given too much responsibility?

The best images from Wednesday night’s action in the top flight

• Dave Whelan ushers in new era for his club
• Name changed from the JJB Stadium to the DW Stadium

Dave Whelan, the Wigan Athletic chairman, launched a scathing attack on Mike Ashley, his Newcastle United counterpart, last night.

Whelan, above, reasserting his view that there is “no chance” of Wigan’s manager, Steve Bruce, taking charge at St James’ Park while Ashley is the owner there, said: “I don’t think you will ever get Steve going to a club that is run the way Mike Ashley runs it. Ashley has no class whatsoever. The minute he arrived there and turned up in the boardroom in a replica shirt and jeans and pair of trainers, the club was gone.

“I think he has got what he deserves there. It’s a very proud club and you don’t go in and lower the standards. He cleared out the board and all the dignity has gone out of the club.

“Whatever you think of Freddy Shepherd, he had great dignity. People say he made a good living out of it but he was also Newcastle through and through.”

Whelan’s antipathy towards Ashley derives from their business rivalry in the sportswear industry. Whelan’s remarks came as it emerged that Wigan’s 10-year naming rights deal with the JJB Sports chain he founded expires at the end of this season and will not be renewed.

Instead the club’s new stadium and shirt sponsor will be DW Sports-Fitness.Com, the 72-year-old’s latest sports retail venture, and the JJB Stadium will become the DW Stadium, taking the name of its owner and his new company on 1 August.

Ailing retailer JJB Sports was handed a lifeline today by its former chairman and founder Dave Whelan who has bought its healthclub chain for £76m.

The deal is enough to reduce JJB’s £60m debts and restore stability at the group which employs 12,000 people. However its problems are not over and this evening its advisers were hammering out the final details of a restructuring plan that will involve the closure of some 30 stores.

JJB’s lawyers were also finalising a statement on the circumstances surrounding the departure of suspended chief executive Chris Ronnie, who is thought to be the subject of an FSA investigation. In January Ronnie was ordered out of the company by chairman Sir David Jones after it emerged his 29% stake had been seized by the administrators to the collapsed Icelandic bank, Kaupthing. Ronnie bought the stake from Whelan for £190m less than two years ago.

However Whelan pre-empted the company’s announcement by hosting a press conference at the JJB Stadium in Wigan. He is renaming the gyms DW Sports Fitness and the adjoining shops DW Sports. He is even rebranding the ground, home to Wigan Athletic and Wigan Warriors, as the DW Stadium. “The JJB Stadium has made the town of Wigan known all over the world,” he said. “Now we can look forward to a whole new era as the DW Stadium.”

Dave Whelan has bought the fitness club business off the chain he founded

The survival hopes of JJB Sports were boosted today after founder Dave Whelan said he had bought the chain’s fitness club business.

The deal will ease the pressure on the troubled retailer, which is saddled with about £60m in debts.

Whelan, who set up the Wigan-based group in the 1970s but sold his stake in 2007, said he would rebrand the gyms with the DW Sports Fitness name.

JJB needs to sell the fitness clubs chain to satisfy its bankers, who had given it until last night to sign a deal.

There was no immediate confirmation from the company that a deal had been completed, with insiders saying that JJB hoped to make a formal announcement today.

Whelan, who is chairman of Wigan Athletic Football Club, said that he would also rename the club’s ground the DW stadium.

“The JJB stadium has made the town of Wigan known all over the world,” he said. “Now we can look forward to a whole new era as the DW stadium.”

An exquisitely lobbed goal by Ben Watson, Wigan Athletic’s £1.5m signing from Crystal Palace during the January transfer window, ended a dismal week for Hull City for whom relegation is now ever-threatening. It had appeared they might just hold out for a precious point but once again the luck was against them as it so often seems to be when a side is struggling. Matt Duke’s weak punch came out to Watson who nevertheless showed remarkable composure to score the only goal of a frenetic match. After the alleged midweek spitting Hull had been hoping for a smidgen of polish, but it was not to be.

When Wigan defeated Hull 5–0 at the KC Stadium last August it had seemed that Phil Brown’s team would find the realities of the Premier League particularly painful, yet they managed to turn matters around in a way that took just about everybody outside North Humberside by surprise. Eyebrows continued to be raised in astonishment as autumn passed into winter, and Hull’s success continued.

But then the reality struck home. Hull have now won just two of their last 21 Premier League matches and the gap between them and the bottom three has closed quite startlingly throughout that disappointing period.

Wigan, as was to be expected, displayed the greater initial confidence and Hull were nearly undone in the opening ­minutes when the swirling wind caught hold of Maynor Figueroa’s seemingly innocuous cross, the ball beating Duke and hitting the angle of the post and crossbar. Wigan pressed hard although Mido, lacking the necessary composure, twice shot over from good positions.

The home side’s best effort came from a low drive on the run by Hugo Rodallega that the Hull goalkeeper managed to push wide before the ball was scrambled for a corner.

“The first half was one-way traffic. We had umpteen chances but you always worry when none of them go in. But the better team won in the end,” said the Wigan manager, Steve Bruce. And so his side have a real possibility of qualifying for Europe next season, an opportunity that few would have imagined possible at the start of the season or indeed during January when Bruce had to let some of his best players go, including Emile Heskey, and bring in replacements. Watson has settled in to this side superbly and looks a genuine bargain.

Bruce has done an excellent job at the JJB Stadium with a series of judicious buys, an energetic and vigorous approach on the pitch coupled with considerable skill which on occasions is overlooked. It is perhaps not fanciful to consider him at this stage as the manager of the season. Of course he won’t be when the awards are handed out but there is no doubt that his side deserve their place in the top 10 and that this success has been remarkable.

As for Hull, all might have changed in this instance but for a brilliant instinctive save by Wigan’s Chris Kirkland who pushed over a header by Manucho and could have had only a split second to see the ball. “England’s No1,” chanted the fans and they had good reason. There is little doubt that had that header gone in Hull might have seized the initiative.

“You can say Watson’s goal was cruel but the way Wigan play is the model for us to hang our hats on,” said Brown. “There was a point or maybe three to be won there and with a makeshift defence and attack we have managed to get to grips with the game in the second half. We have to learn from our mistakes.”

The trouble for Brown is that time is getting short. All those points they gained at the beginning of the season did much to take the pressure off their first season in the Premier League but now they do not appear able to get points from anywhere and April is going to be an extremely nervous month for all concerned.

N’Zogbia was always on the periphery in the first half, but his second-half replacement rolled his sleeves up and got involved, symbolic of the home side’s strong second-half showing