Sidebar

21
Thu, Nov

Typography

Scotland nets his first for WiganOne big reason Wigan Athletic will have another crack at progressing into the Fifth Round of the FA Cup is Jason Scotland.

The Trinidad striker broke his duck on Saturday, bagging his first club goal as Latics fought back from 2-0 down to earn a replay a week on Tuesday at the DW Stadium.

Speaking after the game Scotland explained how delighted he was to get off the mark, and how lucky Latics are not to be out of the competition altogether.

"Obviously it was a little disappointing not to get the result, but I managed to get my first goal under my belt, and I'm really happy about that," said Scotland.

"It was a nice one-two with Hugo on the edge of the box and when I got the ball back I opened up my body and managed to slip it under the 'keeper, and it's great to be off the mark.

"Everyone has been telling me that as soon as the first one comes more will follow, I certainly hope that's the case.

"I think we can count ourselves lucky that we've got a replay out of the tie, especially after the first-half performance, and hopefully we can get the result we need on the night."

Scotland went on to say how a half-time grilling from the gaffer proved to be the turning-point in the game as the team re-emerged from the break to take control of the game.

"I think coming to a League Two club a lot people expect you to win and progress into the next round, but it isn't that simple. They got in our faces, they were first to the ball and all-round were more aggressive.

"The gaffer really had a go at us at half-time, he was very disappointed in the way we had performed. But we came out for the second-half got ourselves going and managed to pull two goals back to keep the tie alive.

"That was the turning-point, we upped the tempo and started to control the game.

"Then Charles (N'Zogbia) came on and when he's on form he's a different class. He changed the look of the game and the overall team performance in the second-half was a big improvement on the first 45 minutes.

"There was some doubt that we would be in the hat for the next round at one point, particularly as we went 2-0 down. But we came back and grinded out the result to make sure that wasn't the case.

"It does mean there's a bit of a fixture pile-up with games against Blackburn and Everton before the replay, a couple of tough games that we have to grab with both hands."