Wigan chief Roberto Martinez said his players were "desperate" to avenge their 9-1 defeat by Spurs as they proved too strong for Sunderland in Lancashire.

A single goal from Hugo Rodallega proved to be the Black Cats' undoing as they went down to a fifth away league defeat of the season - a third in succession.

Martinez had challenged his squad to come out with all guns blazing following their White Hart pain, and so it proved as the Latics took a stranglehold on the game for long spells.

"The performance of the players on the pitch told you everything, they were desperate to play and put last week right," Martinez told wiganlatics.co.uk.

"We were up against a Sunderland side who are probably at the peak moment of their season, having beaten Arsenal last weekend and their confidence was very high.

"We wanted to stop them playing, stop them creating chances, and that's what we did, I think in the end they only had one shot on target.

"The togetherness and the feeling around the stadium was fantastic, and that's how you face adversity. I said before that humiliation is not what happened last weekend, humiliation is not finding the answers when it goes wrong.

He added: "As Wigan Athletic we faced that adversity and got the win.

"Keeping a clean sheet is what gives you the platform to play your football, and we gave a really matured performance today, and it was a turning point for us, a cup final if you like in wanting to go to the next level."