James Milner fired Aston Villa firmly into Champions League contention by securing a 2-1 win at Wigan.
The England World Cup hopeful fired home in the 63rd minute after Wigan's Gary Caldwell had cancelled out an own goal from team-mate James McCarthy at the DW Stadium.
Victory lifted Martin O'Neill's men within three points of fourth-placed Tottenham, with a game in hand, in the Barclays Premier League.
Remarkably, victory was O'Neill's first in the league in the month of March since taking charge at Villa.
Yet Wigan, desperate for points at the opposite end of the table, could count themselves unlucky not to have earned a draw from an absorbing contest.
