Wigan increased the pressure on under-fire Blackburn manager Paul Ince with a comprehensive 3-0 victory at the JJB Stadium. Some reports had suggested Ince, whose side have now not won in 11 Barclays Premier League matches, had only this game to save his job. If that proves to be the case a sixth successive league defeat will be a sorry end to the former Manchester United midfielder’s first experience of managing in the top flight. Winger Antonio Valencia was the star for the hosts, crossing in the 10th minute for Emile Heskey to cleverly backheel past England team-mate Paul Robinson before firing in the second two minutes later. He then provided the assist for Lee Cattermole’s 77th-minute effort. Valencia was good but Blackburn made it easy for him and their problems were all too evident. Their midfield was too pedestrian - no surprise with the 38-year-old Tugay holding the centre - and the defence too slow to react and Wigan had time to knock the ball around at their leisure. Ecuador international Valencia showed he would be a threat in only the second minute when he broke down the right and crossed for Amr Zaki only for Christopher Samba to cut out the danger. From another deep Valencia cross, Ryan Taylor should have done better but he fluffed his kick at the far post and Andre Ooijer deflected the shot wide. It was no surprise when the Ecuador winger created the first goal in the 10th minute. After skipping past left-back Stephen Warnock he burst into the area and drilled a pass to the near post where Heskey cleverly back-heeled past Paul Robinson. It got worse two minutes later when Valencia collected Mario Melchiot’s header wide on the right and set off for the penalty area. With defenders inexplicably backing off he continued his run before firing low across Robinson and into the far corner. Scharner almost made it 3-0 from Ryan Taylor’s inswinging free-kick in the 20th minute but he just failed to jump high enough. In contrast, Blackburn’s first shot did not come until the 25th minute and even then Matt Derbyshire drove straight at Chris Kirkland. Valencia almost grabbed his second in the 38th minute when a half-cleared corner fell to him on the right of the area but his fierce shot was a little too high. Blackburn’s best chance of the half came three minutes before the interval when Samba headed over Pedersen’s right-wing corner. However, Wigan could have put the game beyond Rovers before the break with Cattermole’s looping header beating Robinson but bouncing back off the crossbar and Zaki bobbling a shot wide. Ince made a change at the start of the second half, bringing on David Dunn for Pedersen - the midfielder’s first appearance since August 28 because of an Achilles injury. The former Birmingham midfielder immediately brought more invention to a side desperately lacking in confidence after their first-half battering as Brett Emerton curled a 28-yard free-kick over in the 56th minute. Robinson suffered a blow to the head when Zaki dived in to reach Taylor’s low free-kick but, after diverting the ball wide, his knee connected with the England goalkeeper, who required several minutes’ treatment. Kirkland, who had been a virtual spectator, had to be alert to divert the ball around a post after Emerton’s free-kick was deflected through a crowd of players and almost wrong-footed him. Dunn then tested Kirkland with a 25-yard shot in the 67th minute as Rovers continued to work their way back into the game. Rovers’ fate was sealed, however, when Cattermole struck in the 77th minute. Again Valencia was the provider as his cross was dummied by Taylor on the edge of the area and the unmarked Cattermole curled home right-footed. Rovers, second bottom in the table, cannot afford many more performances like this if they are to save their manager’s job and their season.
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