The Reds travelled to Wigan desperate to bounce back from a mini-slump that was beginning to suggest their early start to the season was beginning to take its toll.

Sami Hyypia's 30th minute opener, his first of the season, was the least the Reds deserved for another dominant first half display.

Rafa Benitez has been lamenting his side's failure to hit the net when they've hit top gear and the inclusion of Robbie Fowler today, albeit though it might have been because Peter Crouch was injured, was clearly an attempt to ensure a failure to score didn't give the opposition the confidence it has been doing.

We'd had just 15 minutes when Robbie almost delivered that much sought after first goal, not just for him, but in the context of a game. Fowler exchanging passes with Fernando Morientes before darting into the box and forcing Pollitt into a save as he connected with Nando's cross with a header that was heading for the corner.

Liverpool have had to contend with some pretty terrible pitches on their travels recently and it was no different today as Wigan's JJB pitch began to cut up almost from the first whistle. To their credit though, the Reds weren't about to let that bother them and they took a deserved lead through an unlikely scorer before half time.

Wigan will have thought they had cleared the danger as the ball drifted area from their box, but Carragher was there to hook it back into the danger area to find Sami Hyypia furthest forward; and he beat Pollitt with a low shot to his left.

Whatever Paul Jewell said to his players at half time, Wigan were a different side in the second half. They came out and gave it a real go and Johansson forced Dudek into a brilliant one handed save with a firm header on 49 minutes.

Liverpool responded with a good chance of their own when Gerrard forced Pollitt to save with a good shot from 12 yards, but Wigan continued to cause problems and De Zeeuw twice had us holding our breath as he powered two headers towards Dudek's goals.

Wigan never came closer to equalizing than in the 57th minute when we almost saw Sami Hyypia score for both sides. The danger came when Matt Jackson drilled a cross to the near post and as Hyypia tried to clear, he deflected the ball goalwards and it took a great save from Dudek to keep the lead.

Liverpool's failure to kill the game meant that we'd continue to be nervous right until the end, but they should be given great credit for bouncing back today. They might not have been at the best, but that wont matter when you look at the league table and see they're still sitting pretty in third.