Match Reports

Wigan 1-1 Albion

Karlan Grant scores against Wigan

Albion drew 1-1 at Wigan Athletic in the Sky Bet Championship on Tuesday evening.

The Latics netted an early opener through Josh Magennis, but the away side earned a point thanks to Karlan Grant’s equaliser.

Steve Bruce’s men return to action on Friday by hosting Burnley at The Hawthorns.

The boss made one change to his XI, bringing in Kyle Bartley for Darnell Furlong – and moving captain Dara O’Shea out to right-back.

But his men got off to a poor start when, with just six minutes on the clock, Wigan’s Magennis outmuscled the Albion defence and volleyed home the opening goal of the game.

The night went from bad to worse when Semi Ajayi sustained an innocuous injury on the 20-minute mark, Bruce forced into bringing on Furlong after the Nigerian defender pulled up while dribbling.

Albion needed a spark to bring them to life and, thankfully, it came midway through the half. Wigan were careless in possession and Grant was on hand to intercept a loose pass, run at the Latics back-line and send a perfect finish into the bottom corner.

Jason Kerr headed narrowly off-target for the hosts as they continued to pose a danger from set-pieces before the Baggies had the ball in the back of the net again, however Diangana’s finish just ahead of half-time was disallowed for offside.

The away side began the second period strongly and created a good opportunity to go ahead, but Conor Townsend’s mid-range effort ended up well wide.

Albion were dominating and might have done better with two more chances – Grant’s header failing to test Ben Amos and John Swift smashing a free-kick against the wall.

Bruce switched things up in an effort to find a winner, bringing Matty Phillips on for Jayson Molumby.

Yet they couldn’t find it and had to settle for a share of the spoils in the north west.

Albion: Button; O’Shea, Ajayi (Furlong 20), Bartley, Townsend; Yokuslu (Livermore 60), Molumby (Phillips 78); Wallace, Swift, Diangana; Grant.

Substitutes: Palmer, Gardner-Hickman, Reach, Zohore.