Wigan manager Shaun Maloney hailed the quality of Thelo Aasgaard after he inspired their 2-0 FA Cup win at Mansfield.
The midfielder put Wigan ahead with a header on 48 minutes before doubling the lead with a brilliant curler six minutes later.
It sets up a fourth-round tie at home to Fulham for the 2013 winners.
“Thelo is a talent and it came to the fore tonight. The guy has been doing that all season for us,” he said.
“Two individual moments from him took the game away from Mansfield, what he did tonight was special.
“The team were brilliant in the second half. The first 20 minutes Mansfield were more dominant but we improved in all areas in the second half. I had some things to say at the break.
“Mansfield have got good players and we weren’t quite at it in the first half. We knew what we needed to do in the second half and the players did it, they were brilliant in the second half.”
The Latics welcomed Manchester United in last season’s third round, losing 2-0 to the eventual cup winners.
“Fulham is an amazing game for us,” said Maloney. “For our players it is a brilliant game, it’s an amazing opportunity and they deserve it.
“It is amazing to have another Premier League team back at our stadium for the second year in a row.”
Mansfield manager Nigel Clough counted the cost of some wasteful finishing by his side.
“We played well tonight and did everything but get a goal,” he said.
“When you are on top the game is going to change at some point and they will have been relieved to get in 0-0 at the break.
“We have to get a goal when we start a game as well as we did. The finish was lacking and our crossing was not quite good enough, but I enjoyed how we played and went at them.
“We knew there would be a reaction from them, the game won’t stay the same over the whole 90 minutes.
“We are disappointed with the first goal we conceded. We had chances to clear it and didn’t.
“The quality of the two goals they scored tonight were brilliant. There is nothing you can do about the second goal.
“The goals took the wind out of our sails for five or 10 minutes, but we regrouped and threw everything at them. We did everything we could but we didn’t get a break in the six-yard box all night.”
