Amr Zaki's penalty on the stroke of half-time was enough to condemn Bolton Wanderers to an unmerited defeat against near neighbours Wigan Athletic.

A draw was the least that Gary Megson's men deserved from the contest as they did everything but score in the second half.

It was Wigan's fifth victory in their last six league games, but the three points wouldn't have gone to the JJB Stadium had Phil Dowd not decided to wave play-on when Danny Shittu's header appeared to cross the line midway through the second period.

Indeed the recalled Shittu enjoyed an eventful afternoon on his return to the starting line-up as he again almost salvaged a point for the Whites in stoppage time with a header that clipped the top of the crossbar.

But for all Bolton's pressure, Wigan held firm and registered their second victory at the Reebok in three years.

After picking up a knock to his ribs at Anfield on Boxing Day it was widely presumed ahead of kick-off that Gary Cahill would be a doubt for the clash having been given only a couple of days to recover. Indeed time ran out for the former Aston Villa man and he was ruled out, with Danny Shittu handed his first start since October.

In the first 20 minutes or so, Shittu and his defensive compatriots were relatively untroubled as Bolton enjoyed the lion's share of possession without creating a great deal.

The first two opportunities fell to Matt Taylor, who firstly had a free-kick charged down by a Wigan wall before he could only blaze over with a snap-shot from outside the box following Johan Elmander's neat lay-off.

Arguably the Whites' best opportunity of the half fell to Kevin Davies with just 17 minutes on the clock.

Paul Scharner, who scored an own goal in the corresponding fixture last season, almost had another moment to forget when his lapse in concentration resulted in the ball landing at Davies' feet only a few yards from goal. However the Austrian did fantastically well to atone for his mistake by making a perfectly-timed tackle to rob the striker of the ball.

From that moment onwards Wigan began to assert themselves in the contest. Kevin Nolan blocked a long-range Ryan Taylor effort before Jussi Jaaskelainen was called upon three times to make excellent saves.

The big Finn raced off his line to deny Amr Zaki from a matter of yards after Danny Shittu's block had squirmed its way to the Egyptian. Five minutes later Jaaskelainen palmed substitute Henri Camara's curling effort around the post and then again he reacted superbly to repel Lee Cattermole's shot from just inside the area.

There was little that Jaaskelainen could do for the opening goal of the game which came from the spot on the stroke of half-time. Phil Dowd adjudged Andy O'Brien to have pushed Henri Camara to the ground illegally and subsequently awarded a penalty to the visitors.

Amr Zaki stepped up and gave the Latics the lead, sending Jussi Jaaskelainen the wrong way to claim his 11^th goal of the campaign.

After half-time Bolton responded by creating a handful of opportunities, all which frustratingly didn't result in the ball nestling in the back of Mike Pollitt's net.

The contentious moment of the afternoon came ten minutes into the second period. Danny Shittu's glancing near post header appeared to cross the line before it was headed away by Wilson Palacios, but neither Phil Dowd nor his assistant were convinced and waved play on.

The Bolton players protested but the Staffordshire-based official was unmoved and the scoreline still remained at 1-0.

Refusing to get disheartened, Bolton continued to press. Pollitt, drafted in for the injured Chris Kirkland, made a great stop with his legs to prevent Johan Elmander from levelling before Kevin Davies struck the outside of the post in the same move.

Riga and Fabrice Muamba were thrown on by Gary Megson as the Bolton manager sensed an equaliser, but despite Wanderers' best efforts, the goal didn't come.

When Danny Shittu headed Matt Taylor's cross against the bar in injury time, the home fans knew that it wasn't meant to be for their team.

Riga dragged a shot wide from just inside the box with almost the last kick of the game before Phil Dowd blew his whistle to send the 3,000 travelling supporters into raptures.

Next up for the Wanderers is another trip to Sunderland on Saturday as they begin their FA Cup adventure against Ricky Sbragia's Black Cats.