It's victor Hugo in Martinez's momentous win
Beating Sunderland on Saturday was like winning a cup final, said Wigan manager Roberto Martinez.
After the trauma of the staggering 9-1 defeat at Tottenham the previous week, all eyes were on the Latics to see how they would respond against the Black Cats.
Martinez said: "I told my players during the week that the game against Sunderland would be like a cup game because it was going to be such an important 90 minutes for us.
"We had to give our all and we had to get everything right, so I was very, very pleased by the way we went about things.
"Defence, midfield and attack – we were positive and focused all the way through the team and I think we deserved the result.
"It might well turn out to be our most important game of the season, because my players showed the character and maturity that I asked of them to put the Spurs result behind us."
Martinez, who watched the replay of the whacking at White Hart Lane 10 times, admitted "the last week has felt like a month" and said that everyone at the DW Stadium has been through the mill.
"It has been a very painful and hurtful week," the Spaniard conceded.
"But the real humiliation comes if you don't react.
"That was why I was so pleased the players showed terrific character and bounced back.
"We controlled the game and created many opportunities. And to restrict Sunderland to just one opportunity shows great mental strength.
"Everyone at Wigan Athletic should be proud.
"But we are a team who are very hard to beat at home and we showed that."
Victory – courtesy of Hugo Rodallega – saw Wigan climb, temporarily, to 13th in the table – just three points behind eighth-top Sunderland – and must have reassured Martinez in his debut Premier League season that his squad has what it takes to stay up.
Reflecting on the result, he pointed out: "Anyone can get beat at White Hart Lane, but to lose by a scoreline like that produces a massive test for you.
"It puts you under the spotlight and it asks a lot of questions.
"So to get a clean sheet against Sunderland, to stop them scoring was fantastic, and straight away you could see that the players wanted to get on with the game.
"Everyone at the football club now feels better and I think we can now emerge stronger as a squad from what we've been through together.
"If we had kept a clean sheet and got a draw against Sunderland, then that would have been something, something very important.
"But when you get beaten as badly as we did the previous week, I don't think you fully recover until you experience a win again.
"The reality of the Premier League is that you can lose by a large scoreline like that, especially if you are a developing team, as we are at the moment.
"But when that happens you have to react in the right way.
"The Sunderland game could not have been more of a test for us because we were on such a low after the Spurs game and Sunderland were on such a high after a great win over Arsenal.
"Sunderland have some very good players, but we worked hard to make sure they did not get on top."
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Weather for Sunderland
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 1 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South
