Source: Daily_Mail
Wigan 1 Hull 0: Elementary for Watson as Latics grab win and climb to seventh
Steve Bruce should perhaps consider throwing open his doors for the January sales every season.
Although he was given little choice in accepting a combined figure of £15.5million for two of his prize assets - Emile Heskey and Wilson Palacios - during the last transfer window, manager Bruce could look with deserved satisfaction yesterday as the players he brought in to replace them carried Wigan past the all-important 40-point mark and within sight of a place Europe.
Ben Watson, a bargain £1.5m buy from Crystal Palace, scored his second goal in as many games with an opportune effort in the 84th minute to leave Hull deep in relegation danger.
And equally impressive contributions from Colombian striker Hugo Rodallega and midfielder Charles N'Zogbia, until his withdrawal through injury at half-time, made Bruce's transfer dealings look like touches of genius. He said: 'We had a tough January with the ins and outs, but N'Zogbia, Watson and Rodallega are all young and they needed a little bit of time.
'I'm delighted with what we've done. You never want to lose good players, but the signs are good.'
Hull manager Phil Brown and Wigan boss Steve Bruce on the touchline
Victory lifted Wigan to seventh place and Bruce added: 'The players have got little buzz about them - that seventh means something to them. To even be up there with eight games to play is terrific. We won't get carried away but we've got some good players here and we've proved it again.'
After scoring his first goal at Sunderland a week earlier, Watson weighed in with another six minutes from time.
Hull keeper Matt Duke met Mario Melchiot's long throw with a weak punch, and Watson stole in to leave the goalkeeper stranded with a wonderful chip.
Hull were disrupted by injuries to Kamil Zayatte and Andy Dawson, although that was little excuse for a limp performance that leaves manager Phil Brown with plenty to think about during the international break.
'You can say that it was a great finish by Watson but we didn't deal with the second ball and for me that's a mistake,' said Brown. 'We need to learn from those mistakes.'
