“Anytime you come away from home and go 1-0 down, though, maybe you have to take the point. The performance though…for me, it was even better than Barnsley on New Year’s Day. Barnsley was very different, in that first half, it was very counter attack. Today for me was as good as we’ve played in a long, long time with the ball.”

Sean Maloney’s comments after the game. Latics had 65% possession during the course of the contest.

Maloney made two changes from the team that played Manchester United with 19-year-old Liverpool loanee Luke Chambers coming into the left side of defence and Josh Magennis as a central striker. There was a tweak in the formation with Thelo Aasgaard largely operating a left midfield role, alongside Stephen Sessegnon and Baba Adeeko.

Maloney’s tactical approach invariably involves players interchanging positions, making it difficult to define one specific formation. Such fluidity can make it difficult for the opposition to counter, although at times there can be glitches with gaps in the defensive formation, particularly if a player misplaces a pass. In this game Adeeko’s passing error gifted the home side a goal after 15 minutes after Sam Tickle had conceded a penalty in an attempt to rectify the error. Latics had dominated the game up to that point, but the goal lifted the confidence of the home team for the remainder of the first half.

When the half time whistle blew Latics were a goal down and the social media was awash with comments suggesting Magennis should be substituted out of the contest after being repeatedly causing attacks to break down through being off side.

No changes were made at half time, but there was an improvement in the tempo from Latics. After 61 minutes Maloney made a tactical adjustment took off centre back Liam Morrison, bringing on Callum McManaman. He also brought on Matt Smith for Adeeko. Smith immediately stamped his class into Wigan’s play and his defence-splitting pass to Martial Godo provided a tap in for Magennis after 64 minutes.

In the end a draw was a fair result and the point was enough to put Latics 5 points above the relegation zone with a record of W10 D6 L10.   Northampton had started the game in the top half of the table and had won 3 and drawn one of their previous four home games.  They seemed content to share the points at the end of the proceedings.

It was a delight to see Matt Smith back in action: his ability to receive the ball in tight situations and find his man with the pass makes him virtually irreplaceable in the style of play preferred by Maloney. Luke Chambers made a fine debut, being able to slot into that hybrid role of left back/left centre back. Together they provide rays of hope in their ability to effectively slot into the manager’s style of play.

Since Adeeko played for the Republic of Ireland U21 team in November he has not been able to consistently play at the same level as he did previously. Adeeko certainly provides the physicality and energy needed in the centre of midfield, but his passing has disappointed of late, being prone to pass backwards or sideways. But Adeeko is only 20 and in his first season as a regular in the first team. He has made remarkable strides and made himself a contender for an automatic place in the starting lineup. Given more time he could become a key player.

_{Stats courtesy of WhoScored.com}