Player Ratings: Sunderland 1-2 Wigan Athletic

The Irish international showed why Sunderland will be happy to let his injury prone Scottish counterpart Craig Gordon quit the Stadium of Light with an assured performance until that costly late misjudgement.

Posted his own candidate for the club's miss of the season when he missed a sitter just before halftime and as he is so right footed he generally looked uncomfortable as a makeshift left back.

With his injury problems now firmly behind him the center half was starting to look like the player who was tipped to join Liverpool during his Hull days until he has given the runaround by Sammon and Moses.

The former Manchester United defender's lamentable and lackadaisical late lapse will probably cost Steve Bruce his job.

Showed glimpses of the form that made him an England international as he repeatedly threatened Wigan in the 'hole' behind Bendtner with a display full of vibrancy and vigor but lacking a finishing touch.

The fact that his most noteworthy contribution came when his glancing header was repelled by Al-Habsi said it all because he failed to get to grips with the mercurial Moses.

An early blow to the head that required stitches must have knocked a bit of sense into the combative midfielder because he turned in an uncharacteristically disciplined display against his old club but became increasingly erratic as the tension mounted.

The Swede would have been a sight for sore eyes after returning from suspension and he had an immediate impact by settling local jitters by putting his team ahead after an Ali Al-Habsi howler but was lured into giving away a penalty just before the break by Victor Moses.

He can be devastating when he's really at it and there were plenty of nice touches but this time he flitted in and out of the game too much for the Sunderland faithful and became increasingly wasteful in possession.

It was his shot that paved the way for Larsson's opener but this was a lackluster performance that saw him drop too deeply too often showed why Arsenal were happy for him to leave the Emirates on loan.

Went from zero to hero by atoning for an early howler that let in Seb Larsson to pull off a string of cracking saves to keep his team in it.

Lucky that appeals for a penalty when he handled were ignored but otherwise put in a solid shift.

After a torrid first half the former Celtic and Newcastle player finally found his feet when Sunderland ran out of steam and ensured the Latics defence stood firm against one-dimensional opponents.

There was nothing flashy about his display but he made the most of Wigan possession to keep his side ticking over but fluffed a decent chance.

Made plenty of important clearances and interceptions against a Sunderland side whose penchant for lofting hopeful balls into the box played to his strengths.

He will need to raise his game if he is to make a more tangible contribution to Wigan's relegation battle because he was anonymous here.

Kept his head when Sunderland was losing its to tuck away his penalty with a calmness that has been a trademark for Roberto Martinez's team

There was nothing fancy about him but he ran his proverbial socks off for the team with a spirit that bodes well for Wigan's Premier League survival fight.

It took him a while to get going but when he did get his act together he dominated the midfield exchanges. with a no-nonsense display.

The Scottish striker gave both Sunderland center halves plenty of food for thought as he ran himself into the ground and could have grabbed the winner if he had not opted to try to win a penalty when through on goal.