However, it was significant that when Djibril Cissé side-footed home Shaun Wright-Phillips's pass to give Rangers a lead for the first time in the afternoon, Redknapp admitted that it did not cross his mind that his team might go on and score a third. All he could think of was holding out for the final 20 minutes.
They managed three and significantly Wigan, having somehow fallen behind after dominating the second half, did not panic. They continued playing the slick, one-touch football that Roberto Martinez has insisted upon, although Rangers allowed Jean Beausejour far too much time to pick out James McCarthy, who scored his and Wigan's second.
Martinez pointed out that, at 22, McCarthy is getting the exposure and regular football he would not enjoy were he at a club other than Wigan. If Redknapp's new-year task is to bring footballers in, Martinez's is to stop them leaving.
These were just the right conditions for a six-pointer. The floodlights shone through a shroud of mist and rain and the ball skidded – sometimes with wild unpredictability –off the pitch.
Rangers initially appeared to cope the better but when a half-cleared corner fell to McCarthy on the edge of the area, "picking his nose" in Redknapp's phrase, they found themselves one down before Nelsen showed some leadership.
As Redknapp walked through the corridors of the DW Stadium, he might have noticed the adverts for Keeping the Faith, a book about Wigan's remarkable escape from relegation last season. His demeanour suggested that, deep down, he knew it was unlikely his players would be signing copies of their own book next Christmas.
Wigan (3-5-2): Al Habsi; Boyce, Lopez, Jones (Maloney, 77); Stam, Gomez, McCarthy, McArthur, Beausejour; Di Santo (Boselli, 85), Koné.
