Wigan Athletic goalkeeper Chris Kirkland says he is happy to put his England ambitions on the backburner to continue his impressive form in the Premier League.

Wigan Athletic goalkeeper Chris Kirkland won high praise from boss Steve Bruce for his performance in the narrow 2-1 home win over West Bromwich Albion.

After Wigan manager Steve Bruce ordered injury prone goalkeeper Chris Kirkland to cut back on the hours he trains, the benefits were there for all to see.

Wigan Athletic 2 West Brom 1Hosts indebted to Chris Kirkland after wonder saves keep England hopes alive.

Titus Bramble admits he will be surprised if his Wigan team-mate Chris Kirkland is not in Fabio Capello’s squad to face Germany in Berlin next week.

Wigan boss Steve Bruce is tipping Chris Kirkland to become a regular in the England team if the goalkeeper can get the better of his ongoing back condition.

Arsene Wenger’s latest batch of youngsters win again - and only keeper Chris Kirkland prevented it being more

Chris Kirkland feels Wigan have not been rewarded for their efforts this season, but is confident their quality will see them climb the table.

A Halloween ghost which bore a frightening resemblance to Andy Johnson scored his first goals of the season as Fulham went above a Wigan Athletic side who have now lost four successive league matches for the first time under Steve Bruce. Johnson’s first goal was his 100th in league football in a career which has also taken in Birmingham, Crystal Palace and Everton, whom he will face on Saturday.His second settled the match and pushed a disappointing Wigan side into the bottom three. It also rewarded a Fulham crowd who must have had some misgivings about this match. Fulham, after all, had taken only two points from their last five games and for the season averaged a goal every two hours and managed only one in open play in almost nine hours.This was also Fulham’s first win by more than the odd goal. “I was abroad for a lot of Andy’s career but I watched him a lot on television and they were typical goals for him, getting in front of the centre-backs for the first and making a diagonal run for the second,” said their manager, Roy Hodgson. “He has pace, a low centre of gravity and technique, and apart from his goals he constantly helped out the two central-midfield players.”Hodgson certainly looked a lot happier than his opposite number, Bruce, who said: “That was possibly the worst performance since I’ve been at the club. We got what we deserved, which was nothing. I’ve got no excuses. We were poor on the night. Apart from 15 or 20 minutes at the end of the first half it was an unacceptable performance.”The first goal looked offside from where I was sitting, in which case the linesman wasn’t doing his job. But the second summed up our night. I don’t think an 11-year-old would defend like that. We had six or seven players well below their best and that’s too many.”We lost in the last minute against Middlesbrough, which we didn’t deserve, and in the last 10 minutes against Liverpool. But we were well beaten by Aston Villa and tonight I don’t have any complaints. I question myself - did I pick the right team? Was the preparation right? But I will also be asking questions of individual players over the next 48 hours.”There was indeed a whiff of offside about Johnson’s first in the 10th minute, swept in from the full-back Paul Konchesky’s cross from the left. Fulham might have scored a second in the fourth minute of the second half when Bobby Zamora found Zoltan Gera, whose drive hit the left post. But their dominance deserved a second goal and it came in the 60th minute. Johnson won a free-kick when his charge towards goal was ended by an over-robust challenge. Danny Murphy took it and found Johnson sprinting clear on the right and beating Chris Kirkland with a low drive from a difficult angle.Premier LeagueFulhamWigan Athleticguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Chris Kirkland believes referee Alan Wiley should admit that he made a mistake in sending off Antonio Valencia, who ‘did nothing wrong’.