Draw deserved as Solihull Moors hold Wigan in FA Cup first round – Neal Ardley

Solihull Moors manager Neal Ardley believes an FA Cup first-round replay against League One leaders Wigan was the least his side deserved after a goalless draw at the DW Stadium.

The home side – who had lost their last four matches in this competition – dominated from start to finish.

But the closest they came to scoring were a couple of long-range efforts from Gwion Edwards which were superbly repelled by Moors goalkeeper Ryan Boot.

And Ardley insists his National League side are capable of finishing the job on Tuesday week on home soil.

“I’m very proud of the boys,” he said. &Ldquo;It’s always a challenge – and I’ve been here many times – when you come up against a very good side away from home.

“Man-for-man, they’re levels above, they should be better…and you have to come up with a plan to give your boys a chance.

“You can’t just match up system for system, because they’ve got better players than you have.

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“We set up well, we need everyone to perform well and I thought all the boys were outstanding.

“We’ve given ourselves more of a chance of getting through to the next round because it’s much harder coming here than playing them at home.

“We fancy ourselves at home but we’ve also still got to perform with the same sort of vigour, otherwise they will roll us over.”

Corners from Tom Pearce and Max Power also caused havoc in the visiting defence, with the latter striking the far post before the ball was hacked away.

At the other end, Wigan were indebted to goalkeeper Jamie Jones for helping a Callum Howe header from Jamey Osborne’s corner onto the crossbar.

On the moment his side hit the woodwork, Ardley added: “As soon as it’s left Call’s head, I’ve thought ‘goal’.

“He’s got up to it well, he’s got a good connection and it’s a fantastic save.

“We knew we’d get one or two moments because we have got some creativity in us.”

For Wigan boss Leam Richardson, it was a frustrating afternoon after he had named a full-strength side to get the job done.

“We’re both still in the hat, which is the main thing,” he said.

“We know what this competition means to the football club and we wanted to respect the history of the cup as well as the opposition.

“All of the changes we made were because of injuries – for no other reason.

“Compliments to Solihull, they’ve come here, well organised, given a very good account of themselves and made it very tough for us.

“They worked tirelessly hard behind the ball, they limited us to certain areas.

“But it’s up to us to be better, to cross from better areas, to make better decisions.”

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