A goal from Anthony Crofts midway through the second half was enough to earn Brighton & Hove Albion a 1-0 victory over Wigan Athletic.
Wigan had the better of the opening 45 minutes, with Nick Powell wasting a couple of opportunities for the home side.
Brighton improved after the break, and after Grant Holt had missed a golden opportunity for the Latics, Crofts headed in from eight yards to bring an end to Wigan's unbeaten home record.
Read below to see how the action unfolded at the DW Stadium.
Hello, and welcome to Sports Mole's coverage of the match between Wigan Athletic and Brighton & Hove Albion in the Championship.
With less than 20 minutes to go before kickoff, how about I jump straight in and bring you the team news from the DW Stadium?
WIGAN ATHLETIC XI: Nicholls; Shotton, Boyce, Perch, Barnett; McCann, Watson, Powell, McManaman, Albrighton; Fortune
BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION XI: Kuszczak; Saltor, Greer, Upson, Ward; Forster-Caskey, Ince, Crofts, Lopez; Barnes, Conway
WIGAN ATHLETIC SUBSTITUTES: Pollitt, Rogne, Holt, McClean, Gomez, McArthur, Espinoza
BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION SUBSTITUTES: Ankergren, Lita, Bridcutt, Agustien, El-Abd, Orlandi, Calderon
As you can see from the starting lineups, both Owen Coyle and Oscar Garcia have opted to keep the same sides that saw them win their respective matches before the international break.
PREDICTION! It's not often that you get two sides meeting in the Championship that are both on four-match unbeaten runs. However, Wigan have yet to lose at the DW Stadium in the Championship this season, and their strong record at home could pull them through this afternoon. 2-1 to the Latics.
As always, as well as this fixture, there are also plenty of Premier League fixtures to choose from this afternoon, while you can also follow the action from various leagues across Europe. You can navigate through the commentaries and team news from the Premier League by clicking here.
The two team have made their way out onto the pitch at the DW Stadium. We will be underway in just a couple of minutes.
There's a half-decent crowd at the DW Stadium, which is something that can't always be said.
Wigan Athletic get us started.
Both sides have began the match just working the ball around the pitch. The visitors have had most of the possession, but they haven't been able to trouble Nicholls in the Wigan goal.
That's better from Wigan. They break down the right through Albrighton, who is on loan from Aston Villa, and his cross is put out for a corner at the back post. However, the set piece comes to nothing when Barnett diverts the ball wide.
Albrighton is soon back in the action, and another delivery from the right finds McCann, but his header is straight at Kuszczak.
SAVE! Brighton should be ahead. A cross into the box was headed into the path of Bruno, who saw his volley well blocked by Nicholls, who had to react quickly to stop the rebound. It's been an encouraging start from both teams.
Albrighton has been class during the opening 12 minutes of this game. He sprays a 50-yard ball to the right-hand side for Watson. The midfielder then plays a one-two before advancing into the penalty area, but his rising effort just missed the far post.
There are not many goals doing the rounds at the moment, with just Ipswich Town finding the net during their match against Leicester City.
The chances have dried up at the DW Stadium, but both Wigan and Brighton haven't stopped trying to play the ball around the park. It's certainly been easy on the eye so far.
Brighton produce a superb move down the right, but as Barnes advanced towards goal, he made the wrong choice to cross, and the ball was thumped away. He would have been better off driving a shot on goal because he was only about 10 yards out.
CHANCE! Nick Powell wastes a glorious opportunity for the home side. His sharp turn on the edge of the penalty area deceived the defender, but he could only drag the ball into the grateful arms of Kuszczak.
BOOKING! Bruno deservedly becomes the first player to enter the book after cynically pulling the shirt of Powell, who was looking to advance towards the Brighton backline.
We reach the half-hour mark at the DW Stadium, and we are still goalless. That's probably a fair scoreline at the moment, but this game surely has goals in it...
Bruno needs to be careful. He gets turned by McManaman before hauling down the winger. Owen Coyle is livid on the touchline, and rightly so. The defender's probably one more foul away from a red card.
All of a sudden, Wigan are drawing a few fouls out of their opponents, and it's helping them heap pressure on the visitors. However, they can't find that final ball that will create an opportunity to test Kuszczak.
Five minutes remaining until half time. Have either side got a final attempt in them before we head to the break?
SHOT! Powell has grew into this match ever so gradually, but he has wasted another chance to hand his side the lead. The on-loan Manchester United midfielder played a neat one-two with Fortune, but his driven shot from 20 yards just went wide of Kuszczak's goal.
CHANCE! Wigan are ending this half on the front foot, but they can't get an attempt on target. Fortune is the guilty party this time, missing the near post from eight yards.
HALF TIME: Wigan Athletic 0-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
The half-time whistle goes at the DW Stadium, and the score remains goalless between Wigan Athletic and Brighton & Hove Albion. Both teams have played some good football at times, but there appears to be a lack of a killer instinct in front of goal. Hopefully that will change after the break.
Brighton have had 58% of the ball, but that doesn't tell the full story. Wigan have had nine shots on goal compared to three from the visitors. However, only three of those attempts have been on target.
There doesn't appear to be a whole host of goals elsewhere either. There has been just eight in the 10 fixtures in the Championship that kicked off at 3pm. It can only get better...
Brighton get us back underway.
CHANCE! Just 20 seconds into the second half, Brighton should be ahead. A delightful cross was played into the middle, but Forster-Caskey could only head straight into the hands of Nicholls from six yards.
Powell has started brightly after the break, just missing out on playing a ball through to Fortune, who would have been clean through on goal. Coyle will be looking for the former Crewe Alexandra man to provide his side with a spark during this second period.
SHOT! McManaman makes his first impact on the match with a driving run from the left that resulted in the England Under-20 international forcing Kuszczak into a decent stop from around 25 yards out.
Conway earns a corner kick for the visitors after beating Boyce to the ball, but the resulting set piece fails to beat the first man. Garcia won't be happy with that, because that's the first opening that his side have created since the opening minute of the half.
Ward has been left in a heap on the ground after a mis-timed challenge from Watson, but the referee remained unmoved. The left-back looks in some trouble. Meanwhile, Coyle makes his first change of the game, bringing on Grant Holt for Fortune.
Wigan are preparing to make another change, with McClean getting ready to enter the fray. He will replace Albrighton.
Brighton begin to push forward by switching the ball from either flank, but the final ball into the box is headed for a goal kick. I'm starting to feel less confident about there being goals in this match...
BOOKING! Holt has only been on the pitch a matter of minutes, but he has already been handed a yellow card by the referee. It was a foul, but it was a harsh decision to book the striker, who was simply challenging for a high ball.
CHANCE! Gordon Greer, you lucky, lucky boy. The Scottish international gifted the ball to Grant Holt, but after running through on goal, he sent his 10-yard effort wide of the far post.
GOAL! Wigan Athletic 0-1 Brighton & Hove Albion (Crofts)
You have to feel for Lee Nicholls. He manages to pull off a Banks-esque save from a Forster-Caskey header, but he can do nothing to stop the rebound, with Crofts heading into the bottom corner. It was a stunning stop from the goalkeeper, but his team are 1-0 down.
All that came moments after Holt should have given Wigan the lead up the other end. It can be a cruel game...
SUBSTITUTION! Coyle throws on Jordi Gomez with his final change of the afternoon. Can the Spaniard have an impact in the final 15 minutes?
Brighton have done well over the past five minutes to take the sting out of the game. They are focused on maintaining possession in the middle third of the pitch, and Wigan can't get near them.
There hasn't been more than three goals in any Championship fixture this afternoon. It hasn't been the most entertaining of afternoons around the country.
Wigan win a corner on the left-hand side. Can they create an opportunity from Watson's delivery? Holt wins the initial header, but Brighton manage to punt the ball clear.
CHANCE! Holt has been in the thick of the action since entering earlier in the second half, and he thought that he had netted Wigan an equaliser, before his header was turned behind for a corner at the last moment by Kuszczak.
There will be four minutes of added-on time.
Wigan win a free kick midway inside Brighton's half to give them an opportunity to send the ball into the box. Everyone is up, but the ball evades everyone at the back post and goes out for a goal kick. That's surely the last action of the match.
FULL TIME: Wigan Athletic 0-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
The full-time whistle goes at the DW Stadium, and Brighton have brought an end to Wigan's unbeaten home record with a impressive 1-0 win.
Wigan can count themselves unfortunate because they dominated the majority of the action. However, Grant Holt's miss midway through the second half proved costly, and it's Brighton who move up the Championship table.
That will be all from Sports Mole this afternoon. Thank you for joining us, and we hope that you stick around for all of the reaction from this afternoon's matches. Goodbye for now.
Written by
Darren Plant
Darren Plant
