Wigan players to refund and rebound

White Hart Lane, Tottenham

In the wake of Tottenham's biggest Premier League win, and biggest win in 32 years, the Wigan Latics are paying up. The Wigan Athletics players have decided to personally refund each Latics fan who purchased tickets at the DW Stadium box office for their last match at Tottenham Hotspur. The 9-1 drubbing at the hands of the Spurs prompted the players to do something bold. Skipper Mario Melchiot making an announcement on behalf of all the players said,

"We feel that as a group of players we badly let down our supporters yesterday, and this is a gesture we HAVE TO make and pay them back for their tremendous loyalty." He then added, "We are professionals, we will take it on the chin and move on but it's important that we do not take our supporters for granted."

England's Jermain Defoe who scored five, yes 5, of the nine goals netted by Tottenham in the second-half scoring frenzy. After notching his first goal in the 51st minute, Defoe quickly completed his hat-trick a mere seven minutes later. It was the fastest hat-trick in Premier League play since Robbie Fowler scored 3 goals in four minutes for Liverpool against The Gunners in 1994. The incredible task also moved him up to the top spot in goals scored (12) in front of both Drogba (10) of Chelsea and Fernando Torres (10) of Liverpool.

"The lads can't believe it," said Defoe. "If you look at the finishing, all the goals were unbelievable. I looked over at the manager and he looked shocked as well. It's like a dream, it's brilliant."

Not so brilliant for the Latics, who must try and redeem themselves in a home match against Sunderland on Saturday. Roberto Martinez explained his team would play straight away if they had the chance, in trying to erase the memory of the White Hart Lane struggle. "Mentally it's important that we're not fragile and that we're ready to compete as we've always been at home," said the gaffer. "More than anything it's a case of giving a straight reaction, nothing complicated, to last weekend's result and make sure the fans see that reaction. The players need to have that mental strength to cope with the disappointment, and that will be a big test for us."