Barclays Premier League

WIGAN 2 QPR 2

A new record has been set in the Premier League as QPR go 16 games without a win to start the season season, surpassing Swindon Town's previously set record of 15 back in 1993-94. The R's made a promising start but fell behind on 19 minutes when James McCarthy – the game's outstanding player – smashed home on the volley. Ryan Nelsen, who was rock solid in defence throughout, also made in an impact in the opposition area when he headed in six minutes after the opener. Wigan by and large controlled the second half yet for the most part could not find their way past Robert Green who was in outstanding form. Dijbril Cisse came on and made it 2-1 to the away side on 70 minutes, before McCarthy bagged a second goal minutes later to level things up once again. Chances at both ends came in the remainder of the game and Jordi Gomez was controversially denied a penalty in injury time, before Phil Dowd blew his whistle to end the game with the score at 2-2.

FULL TIME

It finishes 2-2 in Wigan as Queens Park Rangers' mammoth run without a win continues.

PENALTY OR TERRIFIC TACKLE?

Jordi Gomez goes down in the box under a challenge from Ryan Nelsen. Without the benefit of a replay it's hard to tell whether that was a foul or a perfectly-timed tackle. Either way, it's probably going to be the last action of the game.

HEADS OVER

Jamie Mackie heads over late on after being found by Esteban Granero.

WRONG CALL

Arouna Kone is flagged offside late on in a decent position when he was at least level. A poor decision indeed.

LOPEZ TRACKS BACK

Djibril Cisse is found in the box with a long ball over the top, but Adrian Lopez tracks back to concede a corner.

KONE DENIED

Robert Green gets down low to deny Arouna Kone with a superb save. The former England number one has been outstanding in this second half.

CHANGES APIECE AGAIN

Roberto Martinez swaps Franco Di Santo for Mauro Boselli, and Harry Redknapp does likewise with Jose Bosingwa and Fabio.

SUPER DEFENDING

Ryan Nelsen does excellently to deal with Franco Di Santo as Wigan Athletic burst forward. The New Zealander makes up for his lack of pace with exceptional positional sense.

UP FOR GRABS

It's hard to say who is favourite to nick this game if there is to be a winner. Wigan Athletic will be boosted by their quick equaliser, but Djibril Cisse has had a big impact for Queens Park Rangers since coming on.

CHANGES APIECE

Shaun Maloney is on for David Jones for Wigan Athletic, while Esteban Granero has replaced Samba Diakite for the R's.

GOOOOOOOOAL!

Beautiful passing play from Wigan Athletic culminates in Jean Beausejour being given all the time in the world to pick out JAMES MCCARTHY in the box, who makes no mistake with his finish. It's all level again just three minutes after Djibril Cisse's goal.

GOOOOOOOOOOAL!

QPR substitute DIJBIL CISSE gets on the end of a low cross from Shaun Wright-Phillips, and guides the ball into the bottom right-hand corner to make it 2-1 to the visitors.

SCUFFED SHOT

Great work from Jamie Mackie sets up Stephane Mbia for a shot at goal, but Ali Al Habsi deals with his scuffed effort.

CORNERS

Wigan win two corners in quick succession - QPR defend like headless chickens and Robert Green punches clear on the second occasion.

KONE OFFSIDE

The linesman correctly flags Arouna Kone offside as Wigan Athletic continue to attack. James McCarthy is pulling the strings in the Latics midfield.

JUST WIDE

James McCarthy fizzes a shot narrowly wide which Robert Green confidently - or resignedly - opts not to dive for.

FIRST SUBSTITUTION

Djibril Cisse comes on in place of Adel Taarabt.

KNOCKING AT THE DOOR

Robert Green does excellently to deny Ronnie Stam from a corner, then Jordi Gomez crashes a shot against the crossbar. Rangers are on the ropes.

GOMEZ SHOOTS

Jordi Gomez sends a rocket of a shot above the head of Robert Green, who gets a strong hand to it to palm over.

SHOULD BE A BOOKING

Stephane Mbia practically grabs James McCarthy's mouth as the Wigan man zips past him. That should have been a booking, and McCarthy is receiving treatment.

WIGAN ATTACK

Shaun Derry's clearance cannons into James McCarthy and forces Robert Green to save, before crosses from Jean Beausejour and Ronnie Stam are met with further nervous defending from Queens Park Rangers.

FINAL PRODUCT POOR

A sloppy Adel Taarabt finish fails to trouble Ali Al Habsi. Shaun Wright-Phillips provided the cross.

NOTHING GIVEN

Jordi Gomez goes down under a Clint Hill challenge close to the penalty area, but nothing is given.

BACK UNDERWAY

Wigan Athletic kick off the second half.

WIGAN 1 QPR 1

The game hasn't been of exceptional quality, but neither has it been a total snoozefest. QPR were out the blocks quickest before James McCarthy volleyed in for Wigan on 19 minutes, just six minutes before Ryan Nelsen levelled for the away side with a header from an Adel Taarabt corner. Wigan saw most of the ball after that but Robert Green has barely been tested. Stay tuned for second half commentary.

HALF TIME

It's one apiece at the break.

BOOKING

Adel Taarabt is booked for a needless challenge on an opponent moments before the half time whistle.

LAST ACTION

Shaun Wright-Phillips hits an effort wide before Adrian Lopez ends another QPR attack with a hurried clearance.

KONE WIDE

Arouna Kone thumps a shot over as Wigan Athletic continue to struggle to test Robert Green.

MACKIE HEADS WIDE

Jamie Mackie heads a Stephane Mbia cross a fair way wide. The desire has been evident in this Queens Park Rangers perfomance so far, with Shaun Wright-Phillips and Adel Taarabt leading by example.

DI SANTO WIDE

Franco Di Santo fires well wide from outside the area.

SCRAPPY

The rain is starting to have an impact on the game as players begin to slip and slide and the ball skids around the turf.

POSSESSION FOOTBALL

Plenty of possession for Wigan Athletic now, but there's been little in the way of a proper attempt on goal from them since the opener. The rain is aboslutely bucketing down and there hasn't been too much noise inside the ground in all honesty.

GREEN CALLED UPON

Queens Park Rangers aren't doing enough to prevent their opponents putting in crosses from wide area. This time Robert Green has to awkwardly punch clear a teasing Ronnie Stam cross from the right.

WIGAN PRESSURE

Jean Beausejour provides the cross this time, but Jordi Gomez and Arouna Kone get in a tangle as both look to provide the finish.

CROSS IN

A Ronnie Stam cross is strangely left by Clint Hill and Robert Green is nowhere near it. Franco Di Santo can't capitalise at the back post.

GOOOOOOOOOOAL!

Another goal from a corner, this time at the other end. Adel Taarabt sends a corner in towards the near post, where RYAN NELSON rises to power home a header.

JUST A TALKING TO

Armand Traore receives just a stern warning after lunging in late on Franco Di Santo. That could have easily have been yellow.

GOOOOOOOOOAL

JAMES MCCARTHY volleys in brilliantly from a Jean Beausejour corner, giving Wigan Athletic the lead! The ball took a deflection of Jamie Mackie, but McCarthy will deservedly claim that.

FREE KICK SAVES

Robert Green does will to tip over a David Jones free kick - corner to Wigan Athletic.

NO PENALTY, NO CARD

Clint Hill should consider himself lucky after leading with his elbow on Arouna Kone inside the QPR box. Not even a penalty is given let alone a red card shown. The Wigan Athletic man is down receiving treatment.

LULL

Some desparate defending from Adrian Lopez stalls a Queens Park Rangers attack as the visitors continue to dicate the play. Shaun Wright-Phillips is having a fair bit of joy down the right-hand side.

NOT HITTING THE TARGET

Wigan Athletic only had one shot on target in their last two games, and are yet to have one today on or off target. Franco Di Santo and James McArthur have just threatened but the attack fizzled out.

GAME SO FAR

Queens Park Rangers have made the more confident start and are moving the ball around nicely. A first Wigan Athletic surge forward in the seventh minute sees a Arouna Kone through ball run straight through to Robert Green.

QPR START BRIGHTLY

Early pressure from Queens Park Rangers sees Ali Al Habsi forced to punch clear a Shaun Wright-Phillips cross and keep out a long-range Adel Taarabt effort.

WE'RE OFF

The game is underway at the DW Stadium. James McArthur and Adrian Lopez are in for the suspended Maynor Figueroa and Gary Caldwell for Wigan, while Queens Park Rangers' one change sees Shaun Derry come in for Esteban Granero.

STAY TUNED

We'll have the teams in around 14:30 BST, and a full live text commentary at 15:00 right here in the match centre.

THE REF

Phil Dowd takes charge of his 55th game of the season today. The Staffordshire-based official is no stranger to controversy, and has most certainly been on the end of bigger tirades than the one delivered by Brendan Rodgers' in the round of fixtures before last, when Dowd failed two award Liverpool two penalties that Rodgers felt should have been given. The 49-year-old's total card tally for the season so far is 54 bookings and three red cards.

INJURIES AND SUSPENSIONS

Gary Caldwell and Maynor Figueroa are suspended following red cards received up in Newcastle, leaving them sidelined along with the injured Antolin Alcaraz (groin) and Ivan Ramis (hamstring). QPR goalkeeper Julio Cesar continues to battle a groin injury, but Stephane Mbia and Samba Diakite are expected to be in contention again after recovering from respective neck and ankle problems.

FORM GUIDE

Wigan lost 3-0 at Newcastle United on Monday night in circumstances that Latics boss Martinez was far from happy about. That was Wigan's fourth defeat in five games, making Jordi Gomez's late winner against struggling Reading a fortnight ago all the more vital. As mentioned QPR have picked up a couple of draws in their last two fixtures (1-1 vs Aston Villa at home and 0-0 at Sunderland), giving Harry Redknapp an unbeaten start in his short time at the club while at the same time extending the club's run without a win to 15 games.

PREVIEW

With a number of the most recent QPR acquisitions being branded overpaid and without passion, it's perhaps no surprise that the players as a collective quickly pulled the plug on any plans for a Christmas party. Paparazzi shots of designer clothing clad millionaires stumbling drunk out of a club at an unruly hour wouldn't exactly help stem those perceptions amongst fans or the media. Early stages of new manager Harry Redknapp's tenure have offered a glimmer of encouragement with two draws from two games they could ill-afford to lose, although the R's can't start climbing up from bottom of the table until that elusive first win comes around. Wigan Athletic stand in their way today, who will be looking to reverse a worryingly poor home record (two wins from eight and 15 goals conceded) that has carried on from last season in what Roberto Martinez describes as a must-win game today.