PAUL Jewell spent his 40th birthday tearing his hair out over a punchless Wigan performance.

The Latics boss gave his players a tongue lashing, telling them they they could forget promotion if this was the best they could offer.

Below-par Wigan were woefully out of sorts, finishing a poor second to Watford. But for some stout defending and the tireless midfield artistry of Jimmy Bullard, Wigan's unbeaten record would have gone.

Bullard stood out again and could clearly hack it in the %Premiership. Wigan somehow survived, but an angry Jewell said: 'Watford showed far more desire. We have to do much better and I've made this quite clear to the players.

'We never stretched our opponents. I'm far from happy with what my players had to offer."

'We didn't pass the ball and didn't do enough. I simply won't tolerate complacency.

'It's up to me to do something about it if this is starting to creep in.'
Jewell headed for home on his own with plenty to ponder.

Latics also suffered another ill-timed blow as winger Gary Teale limped off just after half-time with a knee injury.

Jewell has already lost Per Frandsen for the remainder of the season and has skipper Matt Jackson sidelined following his weekend injury at Derby.

The manager knows Wigan are dropping too many points on their travels ' this was their fourth successive away draw.

Latics never got going, yet Nathan Ellington could have nicked a win with a second-half header. It would, however, have been an injustice.

Centre back Emerson Thome recovered from an indecisive start to earn his spurs but the big Brazilian was very much in the minority.

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