Wigan Athletic 0-0 Cardiff City
- Published
Wigan Athletic will be relegated if Birmingham City draw or win against Aston Villa on Sunday
Wigan Athletic face an immediate return to League One after they played out a goalless draw against Cardiff City.
The Latics' hopes of remaining in the Championship are out of their hands and they will go down if Birmingham City avoid defeat by Aston Villa on Sunday.
In a quiet first half, Wigan almost broke the deadlock when Craig Morgan fired over the bar from close range.
Nick Powell could have given the hosts a vital three points but Rickie Lambert was on hand to block his shot.
The result leaves Wigan six points adrift of safety with two games still to play, but they will be relegated if 21st-placed Birmingham draw or beat city rivals Villa in their game in hand on Sunday.
Cardiff, on the other hand, remain in 13th place thanks to the draw, but their winless run on the road stretched to six league games.
Both sides struggled to gain a foothold in a tepid affair, with the first shot on target not coming until well after the hour mark.
Powell had scored five goals in his last three games but could not find the net on a day where Wigan desperately needed to win to have any chance of avoiding the drop.
Latics pay the price for misfiring strikers
Relegation for Wigan would see them drop down to League One after only one season in the Championship.
The Latics have been unable to recover from a poor start to the season which saw them take only five points from their first nine games.
Their form resulted in the departure of manager Gary Caldwell just five months after their promotion, but Warren Joyce's appointment failed to produce a turnaround, and he too was sacked in March, replaced on an interim basis by Graham Barrow.
Regardless of who has been in charge, Wigan have been unable to provide a consistent threat going forward, with Nick Powell their leading scorer with only six goals in an injury-hit campaign.
Northern Ireland international Will Grigg, League One's top scorer last season, has scored only five goals this term, while Omar Bogle has found the net just three times since his winter deadline day move from Grimsby.
Those struggles have contributed to the Latics having the second-worst goalscoring record in the division, managing a meagre 39 goals in 43 games.
Wigan interim manager Graham Barrow: "To be honest, the only thing I'm disappointed about is the result. That's probably as good a 90 minutes as we've played for quite a while. I think we've played well in spells, both since I've been in charge and all season. But certainly from start to finish, it was as good as we've played.
"If I'm being brutally honest, I thought we missed our opportunity in the first 20-25 minutes by not being that little bit more ruthless, That's the only thing I can fault about the performance.
"I've said all along I'd like to take it all the way. If we get the right result tomorrow we can take it to the second-last game of the season, which I think would be an achievement. I'm not trying to escape anything but, since I've been in charge, we've never been in charge of our own destiny. I wanted to get in control of that, but we haven't managed to do that."
Cardiff manager Neil Warnock: "It's incredible what they've done since I've been here [to climb above Wigan and away from trouble]. The lads have really knuckled down really well. It wasn't a pretty game but you can see the spine of the team is very good.
"If we can add a few goals and a bit more quality in certain areas I'm looking forward to a good season next year.
"I don't think anyone needs to be asking me what I'd like to get out of the next two games. Huddersfield are my old club and Newcastle are a team I'd love to beat, if I'm honest. Two wins out of two would be nice and we'll definitely be looking to finish like that."