James McCarthy is confident Wigan Athletic can play their way from the dropzone.

With just one win in 12 games, Wigan are finding the going as tough as ever. As the teams around them, Reading, QPR, Villa, are all capable of grinding out results, the relegation battle is the most competitive for years.

"We played Southampton earlier in the season and I felt we passed them off the pitch and we deserved the three points," observed McCarthy.

"But on Saturday it showed how crazy the League is as they came to our place and we had to defend for the majority of the game.

"They were brilliant to be fair to them and gave it everything. Thankfully, we got a point in the end and I'm sure it will be a big point."