The Hatters went down to a disappointing defeat at Wigan as their struggles away from home continued.

Relegation-threatened Wigan secured their first victory in eight games as ex-Hatters striker Joe Taylor returned the haunt his former employers with the match winner on 73 minutes.

The Town had a flurry of chances deep into stoppage time to equalise but Wigan held on to condemn Jack Wilshere’s side to a sixth straight away defeat in League One.

It began with Wilshere making two changes to the side that lost at leaders Cardiff on Saturday with Ali Al-Hamadi given his full Hatters debut.

The striker came on as a half-time substitute in South Wales and replaced Gideon Kodua, who dropped to the bench while captain Kal Naismith also started, the defender returning to face his former club in the place of Joe Johnson.

In a game of few chances, however, both defences were on top with Al-Hamadi close to reaching Jake Richards’ cross on 22 minutes.

Kasey Palmer curled a free-kick narrowly over the bar six minutes later before Al-Hamadi’s shot on the turn was deflected behind moments later.

Chances continued to be few and far between in the second period. Jordan Clark’s shot from the edge of the penalty area was charged down on 54 minutes but slowly Wigan turned the screw.

Taylor saw a shot on the turn held by Josh Keeley on 64 minutes before the striker was again denied by the Town stopper three minutes later.

But just as the Town were about to make a triple substitution, Wigan took the lead. The Hatters were caught light of numbers at the back and Taylor was released in the penalty area and clipped a fine finish over Keeley.

The Town upped the ante in search of a late equaliser and Clark flashed a shot inches wide of the mark with four minutes left.

Seven added minutes were shown by the officials and with the very last action of the game, the Town were denied by a string of last-ditch blocks by the Wigan defence. Palmer, Kodua, van den Berg and Nigel Lonwijk all saw efforts cleared as the ball pinballed around the penalty area – but couldn’t force the ball over the line in a frantic, but ultimately frustrating, finale.

A night to forget for the Hatters. We’ll see you at Kenilworth Road on Saturday.

Town: Keeley, Lonwijk, Naismith, Mengi (sub van den Berg 83), Andersen, Palmer, Clark, Richards (sub Morris 61), Jones (sub Kodua 83), Al-Hamadi (sub Wells 82), Cole.

Subs not used: Shea, Saville, Johnson.

Attendance: 8,440, including 618 shouting for the Town.