After a bright start, Wigan deservedly took the lead when Gary Teale volleyed home a Jason Roberts flick-on after nine minutes.

Coventry equalised 13 minutes later when Matt Jackson was adjudged to have clipped Gary McSheffrey in the box and the striker picked himself up to dispatch a penalty past goalkeeper John Filan.

Filan performed minor miracles to keep the scoreline level at the end of the first half and prolific marksman Nathan Ellington made the Sky Blues pay for some wasteful finishing when he volleyed in his 20th of the season in the 68th minute.

Derby’s home form continues to threaten their hopes of a top-six finish as they could only draw 1-1 with mid-table Burnley.

George Burley’s side, who have won 10 games away from home this season, have found wins much harder to come by at Pride Park.

And so it proved again as Jean-Louis Valois’ superb 34th-minute free-kick gave the Clarets the lead.

It needed a goal 20 minutes from time from substitute Paul Peschisolido to salvage a draw for the home side.

Derby’s fellow play-off rivals Preston failed to take advantage of the Rams’ slip as they went down to a disappointing 2-0 defeat at lowly Nottingham Forest.

After a tepid first half, the game came to life in the second period – and it was Forest who seized the initiative with two goals in the final quarter of an hour.

Paul Evans broke the deadlock after 77 minutes and Kris Commons wrapped things up with a 30-yard screamer five minutes later.

The result still leaves Gary Megson’s outfit second from bottom of the table.