Derby County 0-0 Wigan Athletic
- Published
Before the goalless draw at Pride Park, the last point Wigan picked up this season was at Huddersfield on 28 November
Championship strugglers Wigan ended their five-match losing run with a goalless draw against play-off chasing Derby at Pride Park.
Wigan had an early double chance, with Will Grigg hitting the post from a corner before Darren Bent cleared off the line from Jake Buxton's follow-up.
Rams keeper Scott Carson denied Grigg when he was put through, while Derby rarely troubled Wigan before the break.
Jussi Jaaskelainen kept out Tom Ince's free-kick to ensure a point for Wigan.
The draw extends Derby's unbeaten run to 10 matches, but leaves them seventh in the table and a point adrift of the play-off places, while Wigan are six points clear of Rotherham at the bottom.
Second-from-bottom Wigan, a side beaten just once in the league in seven previous trips to Derby, dating back to 1984, started strongly against Steve McClaren's Rams, with Michael Jacobs testing Carson soon after Grigg and Buxton went close.
Grigg remained the focal point of the Latics' attack, with Yanic Wildschut's cross for the striker forcing Derby's defence to scramble before the Northern Ireland international had the best chance of the match, bursting clear on the counter only to be foiled by Carson.
Before Ince tested Jaaskelainen with a free-kick after 65 minutes, Derby's brightest moment came courtesy of Ikechi Anya in the first-half, with the winger's run teeing up Johnny Russell for a shot that blazed over the bar.
Derby County manager Steve McLaren: "Scott Carson made some great saves to keep us in the game.
"I was pleased to go in 0-0 at half-time but we addressed that and didn't have any problems in the second half, apart from breaking them down and getting the all-important goal.
"We haven't scored enough goals and we are going to get more games like this where we need to break teams down, so we need individuals and that little bit of magic.
"We need more match winners and I believe we have them but the halfway report is are we scoring enough goals? No, we're not."
Wigan manager Warren Joyce: "They (the players) have a lot of pride in themselves and the club and want to do the best for the fans so every credit to the players for showing resilience.
"They've got no fear or inferiority complex to come and play at Derby or Aston Villa a few weeks ago or Newcastle at home, when I thought we gave a good account of ourselves in those games.
"We have to be more ruthless to finish off chances and make it easier to manage games. We're disappointed we've not won, but pleased with the performance and the discipline, the intelligence we showed tactically."