“We started the game quite well and looked to be in control,” added Moyes.

“But goals are what matter, and Wigan got theirs at the start of the second half.

“We had chances to create better opportunities, we had a lot of ball around their box but were wasteful and gave things away.

“But the longer the game went on, Wigan became stronger and took advantage of the way we were playing in the second half.”

The luckless Vaughan will undergo further assessment this morning on the injury to his right knee, which is not the one that required reconstructive surgery and kept him out of action for almost a year.

Saha will also have a scan on the hamstring problem that forced his 65th-minute substitution, and Moyes said: “James Vaughan picked up a knee injury in training that will keep him out for between six weeks and three months.

“And Louis felt his hamstring in the second half but we don’t know how serious it is yet.”

Wigan manager Steve Bruce was delighted with the result but insisted it was not one of his team’s better performances.

“We’re delighted that we have the points, for obvious reasons,” he said. “But it was arguably one of our worst performances during my time here.

“We gave the ball away too many times, and the only real pass of quality was the one for the goal. It was a great pass from Michael Brown and a neat piece of skill from Antonio Valencia to create the chance for Henri to score.”