Martinez defends Wigan pitch  Wigan boss Roberto Martinez has
defended the DW Stadium pitch in the wake of Darren Bent's ankle
injury and believes it provides a convenient excuse for visiting
teams.  Bent is likely to miss the rest of the season after
rupturing ankle ligaments in Saturday's goalless draw between
Wigan and Aston Villa when he appeared to catch his studs in the
turf. It is not the first time the Wigan pitch, which is shared
by the rugby league club, has come in for criticism but Martinez
does not think it is a major problem.  The Spaniard told Latics
Player: "We want a really good pitch because we base our work on
what we do with the ball, and the ball needs to roll well. But
the pitch is becoming a bit of an excuse for other teams."
Martinez added: "I think the pitch is the same for both teams,
you have to adapt to it. There's nothing we can do with the
weather conditions we have and obviously it's difficult for the
groundstaff.  "We're trying to do our best to correct it but I
don't think th