Watford and Wigan drew 1-1 at Vicarage Road, a result which did neither side any favours with their respective goals at opposite ends of the Sky Bet Championship.

James McClean's 51st minute goal earned the visitors a point, after Keinan Davis had given the hosts the lead just before half-time.

Fresh from their three-goal victory over Birmingham last week, Watford head coach Chris Wilder kept faith with the same starting 11 as they sought to maintain their play-off push.

Struggling Wigan made one change from their draw with Coventry, with Tom Naylor coming in for Ashley Fletcher.

The home side should have taken the lead after seven minutes. A long punt up the field by Daniel Bachmann was left alone by defender Ryan Nyambe who let in Joao Pedro - but the strike could only find the side-netting after rounding goalkeeper Ben Amos.

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A lengthy stoppage saw Charlie Hughes on the floor for a Watford corner, and the defender was subbed after just 11 minutes by Omar Rekik.

The game was turning into a scrappy affair, with Watford generally having the better of the play - however, their crosses into the area were often overhit.

Jeremy Ngakia tested the Wigan goal with a volley seven minutes before the interval, but his effort was a foot wide.

Wigan offered little in the half, although Danel Sinani fired wide from outside the area on 42 minutes.

However, the home side finally and deservedly went ahead just before the interval. Davis picked up the ball from Pedro and produced an impressive solo run into the area before firing home through a group of defenders.

In an attempt to change the game in their favour, Wigan replaced Steven Caulker with Callum Lang for the second half.

The substitute played a significant part for the visitors six minutes after the restart, when his cross was met by McClean for the equaliser.

Watford remained dangerous and Imran Louza fired at Amos after good work by Ken Sema.

The Moroccan saw his curled effort hit the post after the hour mark, while Britt Assombalonga fired over the crossbar 15 minutes later.

Both teams looked for the winning effort, to help their position at their respective positions in the table, which started to lead to an open finish to the tie.

Lang managed to stretch the Watford back line with six minutes remaining, but his shot was weak and comfortably held by Bachmann.

Tempers were fraying in the latter stages, which saw Watford head coach Wilder yellow-carded in a heated exchange with the Wigan bench.

However, both teams came away from Vicarage Road with a point apiece.

The managers

Wigan's Shaun Maloney:

"Very important point, considering the league position. But when you put into context what's happened in the last 48 hours and the feeling within the group, and it did change in the lead-up, I'm just incredibly impressed.

"I'm proud to be a part of that, my team was in it. It's still not the case that we've been paid, unfortunately. So what they did today was incredible.

"My big worry before the game was how we would be, it was a really poor goal that we lost.

"I think in the first half we were OK, both teams were OK. I really felt at half-time that they believed how good they could be in this game."

Watford's Chris Wilder:

He said "We looked a little lethargic after they scored. Our levels did drop from a conditioning point of view.

"That might be something I can't do something about at this moment. There won't be any magic pills for the next nine games.

"We looked a little stretched. There were a lot of tired legs and tired minds. Missed opportunity, a little bit of frustration. It was a frustrating afternoon.

"My analysis of the game was that in the first five or 10 minutes they started really brightly. Then we got a foothold for the next 30 minutes.

"We didn't show that quality that we've got. I was a bit disappointed with our energy levels, I thought they dropped off second half."

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