Leam Richardson was a happy man after seeing his Wigan side continue their Sky Bet League One promotion push with a 1-0 victory over AFC Wimbledon.

Will Keane’s 21st-minute goal – his 18th of the campaign in all competitions – was ultimately the difference between the two sides, with Stephen Humphrys also hitting the crossbar in the first half.

The visitors came back into it in the second period and were pushing at the end when Max Power went off with a badly dislocated finger – after Wigan had already made all three substitutions.

But the home side held on and moved to within four points of leaders Rotherham, with two games in hand.

“I think before the game, if anyone had thought it was going to be easy, they wouldn’t have known about the competitiveness of the league,” said Richardson.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game, they’re a good side and they’re coached very well.

“But it’s a very pleasing outcome – a clean sheet and three points.

“If I had to be critical, we did have chances to put the game to bed and take control.

“But I have to congratulate the lads in and out of possession and we are more than pleased with the win.”

Richardson made four changes to his side – three of them suspension-enforced – and was satisfied with how they coped.

“I’ve been in football a long time and I’ve never seen anything won with 11 players,” he added.

“It’s a good squad that gets you where you want to be – that goes without saying.

“We had to dig in at the end and defend with only 10 men, but we were resolute and even had chances at the other end to make it safe.”

For Wimbledon manager Mark Robinson, it was a 16th league game without a win but it was not without positives.

“It’s the media’s job, and the negative fans’ job, to keep going on about it being 16 games without a win, because that sounds great,” he said.

“But it’s still only seven losses and there’s still nine teams who have lost more games than us over the last 16 games.

“We are where we are and we are a bottom-two budget side.

“We’re not happy with where we are, but we still haven’t dropped into the relegation zone all season.

“We are the youngest squad in the country, we keep showing moments of quality and those are the positives we’ll cling to.

“If we’d have had more quality when it mattered, we might have nicked an equaliser.

“We were definitely in the ascendancy in the second half.

“But when we got into good areas, there was definitely a lack of quality, too many crosses hit the first man.

“It’s a shame, because it definitely would have been a point gained given the results elsewhere.”