Wigan Athletic and Stoke City played out a dull 0-0 draw at the JJB Stadium on Saturday in a game that manager Steve Bruce admitted tongue-in-cheek would be the last on Match of the Day.

The draw meant Wigan find themselves in an early relegation battle and are placed just above the drop zone, by virtue of their better goal difference. However Bruce will be aware that his team tried hard and Amr Zaki and Antonio Valencia gave Stoke a run for their money.

In fact the Potters will be thankful for the heroics of their goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen for sparing them the blushes in this game. Mario Melchiot started for the home side after recovering from a bout of viral illness.

Wigan, who were fresh form a 1-2 win over Pompey during the previous week, had the better of the early exchanges in this game when Wilson Palacios was unable to direct his shot toward the goal after a fine one-two with Zaki in the 5th minute.

Ricardo Fuller replied almost immediately, but his run was intercepted by Emmerson Boyce. Chris Kirkland was called upon in the 15th minute to do some defending when Rory Delap launched his trademark long throw-in into the box.

It was mundane stuff thereafter with no real chances for either side although Zaki tested Sorensen with a long range effort in the first-half injury time.

After the break, Palacios and Zaki mounted separate attacks on the Stoke goal, but were thwarted by some fine defending. Towards the end, Palacios was again in the thick of things as his close range shot was blocked by Sorensen, who also denied Titus Bramble on the rebound. Koumas had a final effort blocked late on by Sorensen as both teams came away with a point each from this game.