Report by John Patrick Heeley

Wigan Athletic's shyness in front of goal continued as their failure to collect all 3 points stretched to 8 games despite the fact that the home side played for a hour with defender Liam Burns in goal after keeper Mark Goodlad went off with concussion following a brave save at the feet of McCulloch.

Another goalless afternoon for Wigan Athletic saw them go eight games without a win and means that they have now scored only twice in 720 minutes of league football.

With automatic promotion still mathematically possible but extremely unlikely Wigan needed to get back to winning ways to create breathing space between themselves and the teams chasing a play-off place.

However another barren afternoon means that the likes of Bristol City and Notts County are not only breathing down Wigan's neck but looking more and more likely to pip them to a top six spot come May 5th.

Derek Stillie replaced Roy Carroll in goal as he was on duty for Northern Ireland against the Czech Republic at Windsor Park.

There wasn't a place in Colin Greenall's sixteen for Simon Haworth, Scott Green or Gareth Griffiths, the trio were resigned to being interested spectators in the seats behind goal with the visiting fans.

Neil Roberts returned to the bench with Lee Ashcroft as Lee McCulloch returned from injury and teamed up with Andy Liddell as Wigan's strikeforce.

Pat McGibbon took up a unorthodox right-back position with no sign of Kevin Sharp, Gino Padula or new boy Steve McMillan on Greenall's team sheet. Also moving out right was Stefan Bidstrup, switching from his normal position in the middle of the park.

One of the most frustrating things about the fact that Wigan again failed to put the ball in the back of the net was that they never really tested the Vale goal even when regular keeper Mark Goodlad left the field suffering from concussion and was replaced by young centre half Liam Burns in goal as their second choice shot stopper was on international duty for Republic of Ireland.

The home side came closest to breaking the deadlock after 8 minutes when Tony Naylor set up former Watford striker Steve Brooker who cracked the ball against the post with Stillie well beaten in the Wigan goal.

Vale's Alex Smith was denied by Pat McGibbon minutes later, the Wigan defender doing well to block Smith's shot on goal, sending the ball out for a corner.

Wigan's first real assault on goal came after quarter of an hour when Peter Beagrie took the ball from Vale defender Sagi Burton in the area but was himself thwarted as he ran at goal with Burton getting in the way of his attempt.

Minutes later Andy Liddell jinked his way past the Vale defence but his low drive was easily dealt with by Goodlad.

Then on 22 minutes came Wigan's best chance of the game and the incident that eventually took Goodlad out of the proceedings.

Andy Liddell's cross into the area found Lee McCulloch but he was denied his first goal in a Wigan shirt by the Vale keeper who dived bravely at his feet and taking a knock to the head in the bargain.

The ball span away and was picked up by Ged Brannan as the keeper lay spark out in the middle of his area but as the former Bradford City midfielder lined up for a shot Vale centre-half Michael Walsh came in with a challenge that had the Wigan players demanding a penalty but the referee was having none of it.

On the half hour mark it became apparent that Goodlad hadn't recovered enough to continue in the game and was led from the field to be replaced by Belfast born centre-half Liam Burns.

Peter Beagrie was again denied just before the interval when his attempt on goal was blocked and went behind for a corner kick.

Beagrie took the resulting kick and Wigan defender Pat McGibbon stole in to connect with his head but his effort went wide of the post.

Moments later McGibbon turned provider when his cross found Stefan Bidstrup's head but the Dane fired straight at Burns causing the stand in no problem at all as did a McCulloch long drive seconds before the Tring referee's whistle brought an end to the first half.

Shortly after the break Burns was tested properly for probably the only time in the game. Burns collected a cross from Peter Beagrie and managed to keep hold of the ball under challenge from Lee McCulloch. A challenge that incensed the home side who claimed that the Scottish striker had fouled Burns.

The best chance of the half fell to Port Vale on the hour when Marc Bridge-Wilkinson forced Stillie into a superb reflex save with a fearful shot from the edge of the area. Tony Naylor picked up the rebound but fired well wide as the Wigan defence closed in.