SOUTHEND United ground out a goalless draw against Wigan Athletic at Roots Hall this afternoon.

In a game of few goalscoring chances, Shrimpers midfielder Ryan Leonard slammed an early effort against the crossbar before Leon Barnett twice came close for the visitors.

However, neither side were able to make a breakthrough as the game ended in a 0-0 draw.

Blues came close to open the scoring in the seventh minute of the match when Ben Coker played a right wing corner low to Leonard who slammed a 25 yard shot against the crossbar.

The Shrimpers stayed on top and appealed for a penalty when David Mooney went to ground while alongside Latics centre-back Jason Pearce.

However, referee Keith Stroud opted to book the Blues striker for diving.

After that, the game died down before Jack Payne momentarily brought it back to live as he cut in off the right hand side of the penalty area before sending a well struck shot straight at Wigan goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.

But, with 38 minutes on the clock, the visitors hit back and came close to taking the lead when Leon Barnett’s low shot from Max Power’s right wing corner was impressively cleared off the line, at the far post, by Will Atkinson.

After the break, Barnett saw another from a Power corner tipped over by Blues goalkeeper Daniel Bentley before the Shrimpers shot-stopper did well to palm away a well struck long range effort from Reece James.

In reply, Southend skipper John White sent a snap shot wide of the right post from 12 yards but Wigan were soon back on top and had strong shouts for a penalty waved away when Adam Thompson appeared to haul down Pearce in the box.

In a bid to become more of a threat going forward, Blues boss Phil Brown responded by making his first change of the game in the 77th minute with Joe Pigott replacing Atkinson.

But Southend were unable to make a late breakthrough and Wigan almost stole an injury time winner when Barnett slammed another Power corner against the top of the crossbar.