Wigan Athletic 0 Reading 0: Tension rising for Coppell as Reading are left on edge

Goal-starved they may still be but Reading have at least added a point to their desperate battle for Premier League survival. Although less suited by this draw than their hosts, they remain a point out of the bottom three and still have a last-afternoon visit to Derby as a possible get-out-of-jail card. They could have as easily won a tension-strewn contest as lost it and, in having to settle for only their sixth League draw of the season, keep their destiny in their own hands.

For Wigan, a fourth year at English football's top table is tantalisingly close, even if they were disappointed at not having turned home advantage into a more convincing performance.

"It wasn't very easy on the eye," admitted Reading's manager Steve Coppell. "When so much is at stake, it's difficult to know whether to stick or twist. I'm happy to have got a point, though, and would have taken it at 3pm. We were always prepared for it to go to the 38th game and we've now got to go and do it in the final two matches."

Coppell made five changes to the team beaten at Arsenal and his disappointment at a fifth successive game without a goal was tempered by a solid enough defensive display. But luck was on Reading's side after seven minutes when, from Jason Koumas' right-wing corner, the steep bounce on Marcus Bent's header took the ball high on to the post. Wilson Palacios' powerful run then ended with a fierce shot over the bar, only for Wigan's dominant start to tail off.

Like a nervous batsman in the 90s, they are homing in on their target in singles after recent worthy draws against Chelsea and Tottenham. A succession of first-half injuries here interrupted their rhythm, the one to Mario Melchiot forcing the skipper off before the half-hour.

The anxiety was underlined when Nicky Shorey's over-hit free-kick passed clean through the hands of Chris Kirkland and fortunately past the upright. The keeper should have been tested, too, when the ball twice dropped to Kevin Doyle on the volley, the forward finishing wildly each time.

That Doyle was on the pitch at all was creditable. Before kick-off, Coppell broke to him the news that his cousin and other members of her family had died in a shooting in County Wexford yesterday morning.

"We found out just before we were having our team meeting," said Coppell. "He was obviously upset but playing the game took his mind off it. It was his decision to play. He was terrific given the circumstances. He can now make contact with his family, find out what happened and do his mourning."

It took Wigan until early in the second half to seriously threaten again. Michael Brown's fierce 25-yarder was tipped over by Marcus Hahnemann, who then scampered across his goal to save the midfielder's deflected shot. Reading, beaten in seven of their previous eight Premier League trips, went close when Leroy Lita's prod from a difficult angle just beat the far post. Then Michael Duberry missed from two yards, his surprise at the fact Hunt's in-swinging corner reached him being reflected in a header that looped into the hands of Kirkland.

Ryan Taylor's vital block from Dave Kitson continued the ebb and flow before Hahnemann pushed wide a shot on the run by the Wigan substitute Marlon King in stoppage time.

"There were two nervous teams out there fighting for their lives," said the Wigan manager Steve Bruce. "With the magnitude of the occasion, we forgot how to play the game ,but it might be the point that gets us across the line."