Birmingham City 0-1 Wigan Athletic

Dan Burn's goal was his first for Wigan since signing from Fulham ahead of the current season

Former Birmingham City loan player Dan Burn hit the only goal of the game against his old club, as Wigan Athletic improved their chances of escaping an immediate return to League One.

Burn's 19th-minute strike earned the Latics a first win in five Championship games to lift them within two points of safety with 10 games remaining.

Blues were booed off at half-time and again at the final whistle.

Gianfranco Zola's side have won just twice in his 17 games in charge.

Zola, who admitted afterwards that he was considering his future, showed faith in his City players when he named an unchanged starting line-up from the side that outplayed promotion-chasing Leeds for an hour in Friday night's luckless home defeat.

But, in front of 15,596, their second-lowest home gate of the season, that loyalty was not rewarded as Blues put in as poor a first-half display as they have produced all season.

With Omar Bogle always a threat, Wigan could have had more than one goal to show for their half-time lead.

That came when Jamie Hanson's corner was flicked on by Gabriel Obertan for Burn to crash home from close range - a first goal for the club for the man who spent half a season with Blues on loan from Fulham three seasons ago.

Zola responded with two half-time substitutions, bringing on top scorer Lukas Jutkiewicz and winger Kerim Frei.

But Blues were not a great deal better after the break, managing only two efforts on target all night. And, when they tried from range, Gardner and Frei both put free-kicks over the bar, while Frei also volleyed just over late on.

Wigan have now won five times on the road this season, compared to their tally of only three at home, with their last three all coming in the Midlands, at Burton, Wolves and now at St Andrew's.

Birmingham City manager Gianfranco Zola told BBC Sport:

"This was unacceptable to the club and to the fans. I do not understand how a team can play as well as we did four nights ago and then play like this.

"I feel embarrassed. We are eight points away (from the Championship relegation zone). If we play like this, then how can we say we are safe?

"A lot of players were hiding, not looking for the ball. You cannot play football that way. That is not acceptable.

"I'd have changed more than eight players if I could - and the manager. I'm the person responsible. But it is not about systems. It is about players."

Wigan Athletic manager Warren Joyce told BBC Sport:

"You can't look at the table and think about just trying to keep in touch. You've got to look at winning every game.

"If you look at a form table over the past nine games, we'd be up there. We've given ourselves a chance with the points we've picked up of late.

"We've actually played some of our better football against the better sides. Our worst performances have been against the sides down there with us."