Wigan Athletic boosted their chance of survival this season after winning 2-0 away at Burton Albion on Saturday.

Defender Callum Connolly, 19, scored both goals on his debut after he joined the Latics on loan from Everton just hours before kick-off.

The win was Wigan’s first-ever victory over the Brewers in just their fifth meeting since the two teams were founded.

It was also manager Warren Joyce’s second consecutive 2-0 victory after his side beat Nottingham Forest by the same score line in the FA Cup last weekend.

The pressure builds on Burton as they sit in 21st position in the Championship table and just a point clear of the relegation zone. They have only won once in their last eight matches in all competitions.

The two sides are both newly promoted teams, after both clinching promotion from League One last season. They are both however in serious danger of facing instant relegation, as Wigan currently sit 23rd in the league table and three points short of safety.

Shoot! looks at five major talking points from this weekend’s ‘relegation six pointer’ at the Pirelli Stadium…

Wigan on the revival

The 2013 FA Cup winners have struggled in their return to the Championship this season. The Latics have only picked up five victories in their 26 league fixtures all season.

The club have been through a lot of change in recent months, after current manager Warren Joyce took over the role from club veteran Gary Caldwell back in November.

Joyce is now starting to get results and it appears that his 4-4-1-1 formation has been working; with Yanic Wildschut playing just behind Will Grigg up front.

If Wigan can keep these kinds of results going on a regular basis, they may gather enough points to avoid relegation in May.

Pressure on out of form Brewers

The defeat for Burton means that they are now only a point clear of the relegation zone.

Nigel Clough’s (Pictured) side are in serious danger of facing an imminent return to League One after losing to their relegation rivals on Saturday.

After the game Clough criticised the team’s performance.

He said, “We are disappointed because we have given away two of the softest goals that we have conceded all season. The timing of the goals is very poor and we need to address that.”

Despite his criticism of the goals, Clough pointed out that the defence was not at fault.

Clough added, “We played the defence because this combination has played together seven times and has kept four clean sheets.

“We can’t really look at them because it’s Lloyd Dyer whose mistake lead to the first one and Lucas Akins who has lost his man for the second one.”

If the Brewers continue to concede ‘sloppy’ goals, then they are at serious risk of being relegated this season.

Connolly’s Championship bow

The 19 year-old right-back (Inset) made his debut on Saturday; and what a debut it was.

It was only Connolly’s fifth senior appearance after making three appearances for Barnsley and one appearance for his parent club, Everton, last season.

Connolly had never scored until his duo of headers at the weekend; but new manager Joyce knew what the teenager was capable of prior to his arrival.

He said, “When we look at a player, we look at his attributes. We did not focus on his heading for attacking purposes, but we are not a big side and it is important in this league that our full-backs can head the ball.”

Manager Joyce said that he had been a big fan of Connolly for a while.

He added, “I’ve known about him for a long time and I watched him when he was 16 or 17, he was the best player on the pitch.

“I followed him for a long time and he’s always been a player that I thought was very competitive.”

If the teenager can produce performances like this on a regular basis, then the Latics may stand a good chance of survival in May.

Burton’s aerial struggles

The hosts struggled to deal with Wigan goalkeeper Jakob Haugaard’s long goal kicks.

His distribution put the likes of Grigg and Max Power (Pictured) through on goal three times in the first-half.

If manager Clough is insistent on playing three at the back, then he needs to ensure that his defensive combination is able to deal with whatever is thrown at them.

The Brewers may be forced to sign some new defensive options in this month’s transfer window in order to stay up this season.

Joyce’s loan market success

New signing Connolly is just half of manager Warren Joyce’s loan signing successes so far this month.

Goalkeeper Haugaard also joined earlier this month from Stoke City and the loanee has already kept two clean sheets and saved a penalty since his arrival.

Joyce has been pleased with his recruitment so far this month and he has said that there is a possibility for more deals to be completed.

If Wigan can keep recruiting new signings in the fashion that they are; then they should face no problems in playing Championship football next season.