Blues Revived By Dunn's Late Strike

Birmingham's mini-recovery continues. Three games unbeaten and an away point collected after battling back from a goal down give Steve Bruce's side a tiny amount of wriggle room above the drop zone.

Only a 6-0 defeat here would have sent Birmingham back into the bottom three, and that was never likely against a side who have not won at home in the league this year. Paul Jewell knows the problem: Wigan are no longer carrying the goal threat that gained them so many points in the first half of the season.

'We've not got that killer instinct at the moment and it's costing us,' the Wigan manager admitted. 'We need a bit more composure, a bit more quality.'

Chris Sutton was back after injury to provide that for Birmingham and made his presence felt as early as the seventh minute, pinching the ball from Martin Taylor and forcing a sharp save from John Filan. Sutton was just wide 12 minutes later with Birmingham's only other chance of the first half, the visitors getting closer to goal than Wigan despite the home side's greater share of the game.

Wigan had pace on both flanks and through the middle, with the irrepressible Jimmy Bullard tirelessly running in support of Jason Roberts, Leighton Baines and Gary Teale, yet the final ball was usually wasteful, if not woeful. Teale went all game without looking as if he could provide a decent cross. Baines managed one after 17 minutes, but Roberts failed to read it.

The striker did better when he made a chance for himself after half an hour, cutting in powerfully from the left and whipping in a shot that was on target until Maik Taylor reached it with his fingertips.

Jewell was tearing his hair out in the technical area at his side's apparent inability to play their way into the Birmingham penalty area, and his mood was not improved when Bullard sent a shot over from 25 yards. It was a reasonable effort in a first half not full of them, though Bullard had other options rather than the potentially crowd-pleasing one and was not likely to trouble Taylor.

Whatever Jewell said at half time seemed to work, for Wigan scored within four minutes of the restart. A Bullard free-kick was partially cleared by
Damien Johnson, only to be returned to the six-yard box by Paul Scharner's header, where Andreas Johansson was allowed all the time he needed to divert it over Taylor and inside a post.

Birmingham duly raised their game, Olivier Tebily seeing a goalbound header kept out by Scharner's block, though when Jiri Jarosik miskicked on the six-yard line with the goal at his mercy Bruce must have feared the worst.

Instead, one of his substitutions saved the day, David Dunn arriving on the end of a superb cross from Emile Heskey after a sparkling run down the wing by the former England striker. Maybe left wing is his true position after all.

Bruce praised his goalscorer: 'David Dunn has only played for 90 minutes twice in the last two years, but when he gets on the pitch you can see he's a big talent.'

Man of the match - Pascal Chimbonda

Another impeccable display from the steadiest rightback in the Premiership. Did everything asked of him in attack and defence, without ever giving the ball away or even looking ruffled.