Freddie Sears scored twice and David McGoldrick once as Town eased their relegation concerns by beating doomed Wigan Athletic 3-0 at Portman Road. McGoldrick put the Blues in front in the 22nd minute, Sears made it 2-0 on the half hour and then sealed the three points five minutes from time.
Steven Taylor, Myles Kenlock, Toumani Diagouraga and Emyr Huws all returned to the Blues’ starting XI with the former Newcastle man lining up in a back three alongside skipper Luke Chambers and Christophe Berra with Jordan Spence and Kenlock the wing-backs. Jonas Knudsen was missing from the 18 with a shoulder injury.
Huws and Diagouraga were in midfield along with Grant Ward, Cole Skuse having been unavailable due to the concussion he suffered on Saturday. Sears started up front alongside McGoldrick with Tom Lawrence still not ready to return.
Jonathan Douglas, a surprise starter against Birmingham on Saturday, was left out of the 18, while Brett Pitman dropped to the bench.
Jonny Williams was among the subs for the first time since suffering a shoulder injury in the Blues’ 3-2 win at Wigan in December, while former Blue Alex Bruce was on the bench for the Latics.
As has so often been the case in recent months, the Blues started slowly with second-bottom Wigan having most of the ball in the early stages, however without creating a chance.
But as the game moved towards the 10-minute mark Town started make some headway. McGoldrick and Spence broke into the area on the right but the move ultimately came to nothing.
On 17, with the Blues now beginning to pass the ball around with much greater fluency, Kenlock cut in from the left and hit a right-foot shot wide.
And in the 22nd minute Town went in front via David McGoldrick’s first goal in 16 games since scoring at the DW Stadium in December.
Kenlock caught Craig Morgan in possession on the Town left and brought the ball forward into the area before cutting back to McGoldrick, who stroked his fourth goal of the campaign past Wigan keeper Matt Gilks with his left foot.
Eight minutes later it was 2-0 with the Blues again profiting from a Wigan defender being caught in possession.
This time Sears closed down Jake Buxton in the middle of the Latics half, took the ball off him and fed McGoldrick. The Irish international deftly played his strike partner in on goal and Sears beat the advancing Gilks with confidence to net his fourth goal of the season.
The game was held up soon afterwards as referee Andy Davies limped off and was replaced by fourth official Darren Deadman.
As the half moved into injury time Max Power hit Wigan’s first shot but Bartosz Bialkowski comfortably dealt with the former Tranmere man’s low effort from distance.
Moments later, Taylor was replaced by Tommy Smith, presumably having suffered a knock.
Jamie Hanson hit a powerful strike strike straight at Bialkowski from 25 yards just before the whistle as Wigan put the Blues under a brief spell of pressure.
The Blues were applauded off by their fans at the break after a stress-relieving half. While both goals owed much to atrocious Wigan defending, Kenlock, McGoldrick and Sears had made the most of the two chances with the strike pair both taking their opportunities confidently.
"While Town had been much better than on Saturday they hadn’t created many chances aside from the goals - although Sears had appeared unfortunate to be flagged offside when away on at least one occasion - while Bialkowski had had little to deal with other than the two late shots from distance.
The Latics switched David Perkins for another ex-Colchester man Alex Gilbey ahead of the second half.
On 51 Morgan headed a Hanson freekick from the left into the ground and straight at Bialkowski.
Town’s first chance since the restart came two minutes later when Kenlock brought the ball in from the left and hit a shot which Gilks palmed wide.
Two minutes later the 20-year-old was booked for pulling back Hanson after trying too much in a dangerous area on the Town right and losing the ball. Hanson’s freekick flashed across the Blues’ box but with no one getting a touch.
Town weren’t far away from going 3-0 ahead in the 57th minute when ex-Latic Huws brought the ball in from the left and hit a curling shot which looked to be arcing into the corner of the net until Gilks brilliantly got across to tip it wide.
Sears was first to the loose ball but shot over from a tight angle with both McGoldrick and Spence well placed for a cut-back.
Wigan defender Dan Burn was yellow-carded for a foul on Ward on 59, then a minute later Diagouraga joined him in the book for a foul on Power.
The Latics threw men forward as they looked for a way back into the game and right on the hour Ryan Colclough hit a snapshot on the turn but Bialkowski made a superb reaction save to tip over.
On 67 Town weren’t too far away from their third goal. Huw sent McGoldrick away down the left, the Blues’ number 10 crossed low to Sears but Gilks did well to block. The loose ball fell to Ward but his shot was also saved by Gilks. In the aftermath, as the Blues tried to win the ball back again, the former Spurs man was booked for a foul on Power.
McGoldrick shot straight at Gilks on 76 after good work from Sears and Spence on the right, then Kevin Bru replaced Huws, who again impressed in his first game since returning from a hamstring problem.
With the match moving into its final 10 minutes Power was booked for leaving Ward in a heap and from the freekick, whipped in by Ward, Smith almost made it 3-0 with a powerful header which Gilks did well to keep out to his left.
With four minutes left on the clock Bialkowski made a terrific double save, first blocking from Gilbey and then preventing sub Callum Connolly from netting the rebound from close range.
Town immediately counter-attacked with McGoldrick catching Gilbey in possession on halfway before taking the ball into the area and feeding Sears to his right. The ex-Colchester man’s first strike was blocked by Gilks but he made no mistake with his second effort to claim his fifth goal of the season.
Wigan continued to look for a goal, Bialkowski tipping a long-range Gilbey effort wide, before McGoldrick was replaced by Dominic Samuel for the final few minutes, the Blues’ first goal scorer receiving a warm ovation from the Town support.
Colclough diverted a cross wide before cheers and applause from the home fans at the final whistle at the end of a far less fractious evening at Portman Road.
The game was effectively over once the Blues had scored their two first-half goals and Wigan could do little by try to take the game to Town after the break and but for Bialkowski they might well have pulled a goal back.
However, Gilks was the busier of the two keepers and while the Latics will feel they would have scored but for Bialkowski on another night the Blues might have added to their goals before Sears netted the third.
While the Blues' first double of the season and the overall performance were positives, the game was watched by only 14,661, Town's lowest home league crowd of the century. The last lower league crowd at Portman Road was the 14,514 which watched the 0-0 draw with Tranmere Rovers on November 12th 1999.
The result sees the Blues remain 17th but with everyone below them playing on the night losing now nine points from the bottom three with a superior goal difference ahead of Saturday’s trip to Fulham, who lost 4-2 at Derby.
Town: Bialkowski, Spence, Chambers (c), Taylor (T Smith 45), Berra, Kenlock, Diagouraga, Ward, Huws (Bru 76), McGoldrick (Samuel 90), Sears. Unused: Gerken, Pitman, Williams, Moore.
Wigan: Gilks, Buxton, Perkins (Gilbey 46), Power, MacDonald (Obertan 79), Jacobs, Morgan, Warnock (c) (Connolly 75), Hanson, Colclough, Burn. Unused: Haugaard, James, Bruce, Byrne. Referee: Andy Davies (Hampshire) (Darren Deadman (Cambridgeshire) 36). Att: 14,661 (Wigan: 176).