Wigan Athletic 1-1 Coventry City: Draw lifts Latics off the bottom

Viktor Gyokeres has scored six goals in his last seven games

Viktor Gyokeres' 18th goal of the season was not enough for Coventry as they were held at struggling Wigan who moved off the foot of the Championship.

The Sweden striker headed in Jake Bidwell's cross to give the Sky Blues the lead at the DW Stadium.

But the Latics pressed hard for an equaliser and gained their reward when Ryan Nyambe's effort deflected in off Coventry defender Kyle McFadzean.

The point lifts Wigan off the foot of the table to 23rd, while Coventry remain ninth and four points outside the play-offs.

The visitors started brightly and Latics goalkeeper Ben Amos was called into action to push Gustavo Hamer's curling free-kick behind before denying Matt Godden soon afterwards.

Godden and strike partner Gyokeres provided a persistent threat, while Sean Maguire - making his first start in a Sky Blues shirt - almost opened the scoring when he took the ball around Amos, only for Charlie Hughes to clear off the line.

Wigan also went close before half-time, with the lively Danel Sinani unleashing a couple of attempts from distance that Ben Wilson clawed behind.

Gyokeres got the breakthrough early in the second half, heading home his sixth goal in seven games.

Substitute Ben Sheaf might have doubled the visitors' advantage with a drive that brought another save from Amos, but it was Wigan who applied most of the pressure in the final 15 minutes.

Will Keane was denied by Wilson before supplying the cross that brought about his side's 83rd-minute equaliser, with the ball headed out as far as Nyambe, whose cross spun off McFadzean and into the net.

Coventry, who stretched their unbeaten run to eight games, might yet have claimed all three points but Godden miscued a volley before Amos thwarted Hamer in stoppage time.

Wigan manager Shaun Maloney told BBC Radio Manchester:

"I was extremely pleased with the mentality. In the first half I thought we were really good, but still too open in the counter-attack.

"I'm disappointed with how we defended the box for their goal, but I can't be critical of the players - what they've given me tonight was just incredible, given what's happened in the last four or five days.

"The situation we're in now, we have to go for three points and every substitution I made was to attack.

"I'd love to give the goal to Ryan (Nyambe), but I think it's an own goal. Ryan's played so many different positions for me, he's incredibly aggressive one v one and he's doing very well."

Coventry manager Mark Robins told BBC Coventry & Warwickshire:

"We had the two best chances of the first half and we didn't really do enough. There were too many times when we didn't get near them because we ended up with two against their four in the middle of the park.

"The changes at half-time gave us the ability to get a foothold. It looked a little bit more like us and we started passing it.

"That culminated in a really good passage of play with a brilliant first-time ball in from Jake Bidwell onto the head of Vik and it was a fantastic header.

"You think 'right, we're going to go on and win this game but for whatever reason, maybe one or two tired legs, we dropped away."