Albion 2 Wigan 2?

Substitute Marc-Antoine Fortune headed a late goal to earn below-par Albion a point in their relegation showdown with Wigan.

The Baggies were flat for much of the evening but they staged a rousing final 25 minutes and were rewarded when Fortune headed home a Jerome Thomas cross on 79.

Peter Odemwingie had given Roberto Di Matteo's men a fifth-minute lead but they trailed at half-time through free-kicks from Charles N'Zogbia and former Albion loanee Ben Watson.

After surviving an early scare when Paul Scharner allowed a high ball to drop over his head and Jonas Olsson had to bail him out, the start of the match turned into a dream one for Albion.

Jerome Thomas burst through midfield and delivered a perfect ball into the path of Odemwingie, who was played onside by Gary Caldwell and raced away from Steve Gohouri before prodding past goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi for his ninth goal of the season.

But they looked edgy throughout the first-half and Wigan were level on 21 minutes.

Youssouf Mulumbu fouled N'Zogbia on the edge of the box and the winger's left-footed free-kick deflected off the knee of Mulumbu and past goalkeeper Boaz Myhill.

The Baggies had a sight of goal when Chris Brunt blasted just wide from 20 yards but they failed to find any tempo before the interval.

And they were behind a minute before the break when Gonzalo Jara was booked for a foul on Maynor Figueroa with Watson's curling free-kick evading everyone to creep inside Myhill's far post.

The home side could have levelled in first-half stoppage time but Odemwingie's far-post side-foot from Brunt's cross was blocked by full-back Gohouri.

Albion could have also scored in the opening seconds after the restart when Marek Cech fired just over from 20 yards.

But they might have fallen further behind when Scharner's lapse let in Franco Di Santo and Myhill had to make a smart block.

The, moments later, Thomas cut in from the left and curled a clever shot fractionally beyond the angle of post and bar.

However, they remained open at the back and Myhill had to make a solid block to deny N'Zogbia after he had danced past Marek Cech.

Seconds later, the right-hand side of the Baggies defence was picked apart by the visitors with N'Zogbia firing just over.

Albion, however, stepped up the pressure in search of the equaliser and they rattled the same post twice in a minute.

First Mulumbu's shot from 20 yards thudded into the woodwork and then Brunt's effort from a similar distance glanced off it.

The goal finally arrived with 11 minutes remaining ,when Wigan were unable toclear and Jerome Thomas's lofted cross was headed in crisply by Fortune.

Moments later, only Al Habsi's fine flying save denied them an equaliser when Jonas Olsson met Brunt's corner with a powerful goal-bound header.

They could have also had a penalty in the closing moments,when Steven Caldwell appeared to handle in the box.