Wigan manager Roberto Martinez praised his side for combining quality with resilience as they ended their eight-game winless run in the Barclays Premier League in a thrilling 4-3 victory over Blackburn.
The Latics went behind to Jason Roberts' opener midway through the first half but James McCarthy equalised, and two more well-worked goals from Hugo Rodallega and McCarthy put Wigan in control. Christopher Samba pulled one back straightaway before Ben Watson and David Dunn netted a penalty apiece, but the hosts held on to climb out of the relegation zone.
"The performance deserved the win. Probably the first 20 minutes we couldn't get into the tempo of the game, the pitch was allowing Blackburn to be direct and we couldn't cope with that," said Martinez.
"Then we conceded a goal out of trying to play football and getting caught but I'm pleased that we reacted in the right manner.
"It didn't affect our philosophy and the way we want to play and from then on I've seen three of the best goals you're going to see in the Premier League.
"That's a side of any squad that is the biggest compliment you can pay. I'm proud of the players that they've been able to show the quality we all know they've got.
"Then we've been able to close the game out, and in the last 15 minutes we were resolute, we concentrated and we showed a great maturity to get the three points."
Blackburn have now lost three league games in a row and boss Steve Kean was left to rue his side's failure to make more of their early advantage.
"We made a very good start and even after the goal we had a couple of opportunities where we could have increased the lead," he said.
"It's disappointing to score three goals away from home and come away with nothing but I think it was going to be about the team who made the least amount of mistakes on a tricky afternoon, and fair play to Wigan, they got a bit of momentum and they pushed us. But I thought we showed good character to come back."
Source: PA
