MALKY Mackay wondered what his side had to do to beat Ben Amos at the DW Stadium.

Thwarted time and again by the Wanderers keeper, the Latics seemed to be heading to yet another home defeat in Saturday’s derby before Martyn Waghorn’s 94th-minute equaliser.

But Mackay felt his side were worth a win – what would have been their first at home since August 30 – given the chances they created.

“Ben Amos had a fantastic game,” he said.

“He pulled off three unbelievable saves and he was the difference between us drawing and winning the game,” he said.

“I'm really proud of the players. The two teams really went at it in a terrific atmosphere with fantastic support from our fans, a lots of noise as well from the Bolton end, it made for a very good local derby.

“I thought we were terrific, we had a lot of domination on the ball in the right territories. We created plenty of chances, hit the bar twice and at one point we really didn't know what to do to get the ball over the line because we were throwing everything at Bolton.”

Things didn’t look good for Wigan when Tom Walker opened the scoring with 20 minutes to go but Mackay was pleased with his side’s response.

“You can't account for the way Bolton's goal went in, it's just a huge slice of misfortune for us. We defended really well throughout the game and to lose such an unlucky goal was really disappointing.

“What I was delighted about was the way the players came back from it, they didn't put their heads down and that's exactly what we ask of them.

“It gives me great hope leading into these last seven games and we've got to keep showing courage.”

Waghorn saved a point with an acrobatic effort, his first goal for the club since September, and Mackay felt his team were worth at least a point.

“We thoroughly deserved to score that late goal and I think we deserved all three points. We really had a go at Bolton in the second half and to top it off the quality of the goal was fantastic as well,” he said.

“Martyn showed what forwards are for, they're there to score goals. He's been the perfect professional, he had to bide his time and he knows that it's about taking your chances when you get them, that's exactly what he did today.”