Wigan Athletic took a big step towards securing their Premiership future when they beat fellow relegation battlers 1-0 in their Premiership clash on Sunday.

Emile Heskey scored the only goal of the match in the 34th minute even as Wigan spent most of the game with just 10 men after Jason Koumas was sent off in the 5th minute.

The importance of the game was made evident by Bolton manager Gary Megson when he rested as many as nine key players for the UEFA Cup clash against Sporting but the visitors were unable to find their rhythm as Wigan dominated the game.

The hosts received an early set back when Koumas was shown a red card for his late tackle on Gary Cahill. But Bolton failed to make use of their numerical advantage as Wigan looked more likely of the two to break the deadlock.

The hosts took a deserved lead in the 34th minute when Heskey raced forward to meet Melchiot's long throw to volley his chance from six yards out. Bolton tried to push forward in search of an equalizer but were let down by some poor passing.

El-Hadji Diouf looked to have restored parity before the half time whistle but his effort was ruled out due to an earlier foul by Nolan. The visitors came out all guns blazing in the second half Matt Taylor, Nolan and Kevin Davies coming close to putting Bolton on level terms but Wigan held on to claim vital three points that puts them six points clear of the drop zone.