Wigan Athletic manager Roberto Martinez has defended Ali Al-Habsi after his recent errors.

The 30-year-old has come under fire following his mistakes in his last two games against Reading and Manchester City.

Martinez has moved quickly to label the criticism of his goalkeeper as "very unfair", insisting that the Oman international is one of the best in the Premier League.

"I don't think it was an error against Manchester City. Ali in my eyes is one of the best in this league," said the Spanish coach. "Sometimes you expect Ali to save the unstoppable and that's very unfair.

"Ali is such a confident player and internally he is a very strong human being. I would say his mental strength is his biggest quality,

"As a goalkeeper you need to be able to move on from action to action and he is not affected by that. It's not a confidence issue at all."

Al-Habsi joined the Latics on a permanent deal last year from Bolton Wanderers.