MX23RW : Wednesday, January 29 08:17:20| >> :600:2381717:2381717:
Jan 1, 2020 at 3pm UK at ​St Andrew's
Attendance: 18,616
BirminghamBirmingham City
2-3
WiganWigan Athletic
Mrabti (39'), Maghoma (81')
FT(HT: 1-1)
Windass (9', 50'), Kipre (73')

Paul Cook "confident" Wigan will avoid relegation

Paul Cook
© Reuters
Latics are one point from safety.

Wigan manager Paul Cook insists his side can win their survival fight and drag other teams into trouble after their 3-2 victory at Birmingham.

The Latics won the first away game in 15 attempts since beating Leeds in April to move off the bottom of the Sky Bet Championship and within a point of safety.

"I feel confident we can get out of trouble," said Cook. "I've watched us play too many times now (to think otherwise).

"If we do in the second half of the season what we've done in the first half, and we learn from the mistakes, the reality is we won't be in trouble but that's a long way off.

"At this stage the league is quite tight and teams can be dragged in because if teams at the bottom start winning, you are in trouble and teams will be looking over their shoulder.

"We can certainly cause most teams problems and over a season the league table doesn't lie.

"We create chances, we have got pace, energy and legs. We are on 23 points and we've got to make sure we get a points tally other teams will find hard to beat.

"If you win football games you won't be in trouble.

"We've just got to keep going. We've lost so many games in the last minute and stoppage time, it's untrue."

Striker Josh Windass opened Wigan's account after nine minutes and had a hand in the other two.

Kerim Mrabti's first goal at St Andrew's equalised for Blues in the 39th minute.

But Gary Gardner's own goal five minutes after the restart and a Cedric Kipre effort after 73 minutes sealed it before substitute Jacques Maghoma pulled one back for Blues late on.

Birmingham have won one in 12 and are now six points above the relegation zone in 18th.

Head coach Pep Clotet admits ending their run is a challenge but is fully confident he can turn it around.

"It's a challenge because we're having a bad run and we need to put our hands up for it," he said.

"But there are a lot of things that give me confidence; this club has been struggling much more in the recent past than it is now.

"I have full trust in the players, but it's about getting them back mentally and fighting back again because they do have the right attitude.

"I'm massively confident we can turn things around. We have experience in the squad of being in bad situations.

"We're also scoring more goals than we were a couple of months ago, so I'm very confident."

Clotet will have centre backs Jake-Clarke Salter and Marc Roberts back from injury soon after being forced to play midfielder Gardner at the back against Wigan.

"Next week we will get the players back in the position that we've been struggling in for a month and a half almost," he added.

"Then together we will fight for every point and things will take care of themselves.

"Gary can defend because he's good in the air and has played there earlier this season."

Regarding his team's display, Clotet admitted: "We had a bad performance and we didn't perform to the levels we did against Leeds on Sunday."

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General view of Birmingham City's St Andrew's taken 2016
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rhs 2.0
Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool23221054153967
2Manchester CityMan City24163565273851
3Leicester CityLeicester24153652242848
4Chelsea2412484132940
5Manchester UnitedMan Utd249783629734
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs249783832634
7Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2481063532334
8Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd248972523233
9Southampton2494113142-1131
10Arsenal2461263234-230
11Crystal Palace247982228-630
12Everton2486102835-730
13Burnley2493122838-1030
14Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2486102436-1230
15Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2467112734-725
16Aston Villa2474133145-1425
17West Ham UnitedWest Ham2365122738-1123
18Bournemouth2465132337-1423
19Watford2458112136-1523
20Norwich CityNorwich2445152447-2317

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