Gameweek 26 ended with the biggest anti-climax imaginable, as Wigan and Bolton played out a dire battle of attrition on a miserable pitch in front of a justifiably miserable crowd.

Once again double gameweek investors were left scratching around for points as hopes pinned on mid-price offerings were torn up and trodden into a big muddy divot…

The outcome was perhaps predictable; our hopes of healthy attacking returns optimistic to say the least. Wigan have just one win in their last eight league games, scoring just six goals in the process. Their last five at the DW stadium have brought just four goals. Admittedly hosting teams on their crater-filled home surface hasn’t helped. Ripped up by regular Rugby, the pitch is just not conducive to the brand of football that Roberto Martinez is stubbornly attempting to impose on a bunch of seemingly very ordinary players.

Charles N’Zogbia is the exception to that rule. The winger struck the woodwork for the second consecutive match in last night’s stalemate and was Wigan’s one true threat on the left flank. Not surprisingly he claimed the maximum Fantasy Premier League bonus points – at least some reward for his double gameweek investors.

Incredibly N’Zogbia has claimed bonus points in 11 of his last 16 league matches – totalling 23 points. It seems that the Frenchman is not so much courting the FPL bonus judges’ he’s wining, dining and having his way with them in the drafty DW car park. Even Chris Eagles is looking on in envy. Like Eagles it seems that N’Zogbia can get away with failing to deliver goals and assists and still earn his bonus. The winger has returned just a single goal and two assists in his last eight league starts.

Hugo Rodallega, so often N’Zogbia’s partner in crime when it comes to troubling opposing defences, has faltered badly of late. Meagre double gameweek returns were typical of his recent form that has seen just one goal in 11 starts. Home games against Stoke and Bolton looked ideal opportunities to improve his form but he has failed to take them. That failure has already prompted thousands of his FPL owners to move him on and it’s hard to argue against the move with strikers further up the price bracket delivering so regularly.

As for Bolton, they hardly had the form to push Wigan and inspire a classic. Wanderers boast just a single win in their last eight matches, with five goals to their name over that spell. Owen Coyle has at least brought a new level of resistance at the back, claiming three clean sheets in five league games but his side have scored just one goal in the process.

Matt Taylor isn’t the only one failing then but that won’t make last night’s show by him any easier to digest. Taylor drew another blank but more significantly wasted numerous opportunities to win the game and reward his patient owners. With loanees Wilshere and Weisss waiting in the wings, Taylor’s starting role is severely under threat. Having failed to recreate last season’s form and returns, he now seems set to find himself in and out of Owen Coyle’s side for Bolton’s remaining games.

The only possible saving grace for players from both these sides is that they both guarantee a fixture in gameweek 29, when other clubs play no part. Bolton could yet progress in the FA Cup if they win their replay at White Hart Lane. That would postpone their trip to West Ham but still leave them with an away game at Sunderland. Wigan meanwhile, face Liverpool in gameweek 29 and follow that with a double fixture in gameweek 30 against Bolton and Villa.

Those who invested in the likes of N’Zogbia, Scharner, Rodallega, Lee and Taylor may yet hold on then, with priorities for “transfers out” lying elsewhere in their squads.