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Defeat always hurts, especially in games of consequence, but this is very close to being just about as bad as it gets.
Unsurprisingly Brian Laws made several changes to his starting line-up ahead of the game. Although he has had to deal with various injuries during his spell in charge, it isn't absurd to think that Laws doesn't yet know his best XI.
Danny Fox failed to recover from his rib injury sustained against Wolves in time for the game and was replaced by Stephen Jordan. Clarke Carlisle missed out due to a broken toe and his place was taken by Michael Duff, while Kevin McDonald and Steven Fletcher also found themselves back in the team at the expense of Chris Eagles, the surprise omission, and Andre Bikey.
After so many horrendous performances on the road this season it was a pleasant surprise to see Burnley start like a freight train for once.
Fletcher and Graham Alexander got the game's first half chances, Alexander's rasping effort from the edge of the box cannoned off Titus Bramble before Fletcher's angled drive was held by Chris Kirkland in the home goal.
The early pressure almost paid the ultimate dividend midway through the first half as Wade Elliott found himself stood on the penalty spot with a sight of goal. Martin Paterson's speculative effort looped up kindly for the out-of-form midfielder but his drilled effort was superbly blocked by flying Scot Gary Caldwell.
Bramble was then staggeringly fortunate to escape serious punishment for a foul on David Nugent as he looked to race clear. Bramble's tackle looked clumsy at the time and on second viewing there is no doubt that the former Newcastle man deserved at least a yellow card.
Roberto Martinez has a reputation for building teams who like to play football in 'the right manner' but their first half performance was littered with ugly hoofs towards to rangy Marcelo Moreno. With the exception of James McCarthy the side struggled to look like a team who were yearning to zip the ball around in the mould of Arsenal and Barcelona.
So lacking were they in creativity in the first 45 minutes that it was Alexander who gave them their only genuine effort on goal in the first half.
His back pass to Brian Jensen was woeful, quite how he could then turn round and argue with the big Dane is beyond me. As it was the mistake gifted Wigan a corner late in the first half and Caldwell came mighty close to breaking the deadlock as he jumped above a stationary Jordan to crash a header against the post.
Half-time in an away game and we were still in with a real shout of winning the game - it was a case of 'so far so good!'
The second half began less brightly than the first had though and only a big slice of luck stopped referee Mike Jones from awarding McCarthy a penalty.
The young Scot seemed to have cut back and beaten Leon Cort before his legs were whipped away from under him, the howls of protest from fans and players alike fell on deaf ears as Jones waved play-on much to the dismay of McCarthy.
As plucky and courageous a display this was from Burnley a real lack of quality stood out as the second half wore on.
Wade Elliott and Kevin McDonald were both giving the ball away far too cheaply both in defensive positions and advanced areas.
I have no idea where our number eleven from the play-off final has disappeared to but I would love for him to return and take the place of the impostor currently operating in his place in our midfield.
I'm firmly of the opinion that without Chris McCann for a large part of the season we have been horribly exposed in the centre of the park, with Alexander, McDonald, Bikey and Elliott all struggling to develop into Premier League midfielders.
McDonald is the main source of frustration to me. He has bags of talent, is glorious to watch at times and has all the components to play at the highest level for a decade or more - what infuriates me is that he is constantly failing to deliver. In patches on Saturday he was very good, as he was for half an hour against Stoke, but for the majority he was below his best.
The lad is a year younger than me and it's easy for me to sit here and write about Premier League football but it's a different thing all together for a lad to be out there playing Premier League football so my criticism is tempered slightly.
It was sloppiness in possession from the men in Claret and Blue shirts that gave Wigan several half chances as they looked for the win that would edge them ever closer to safety.
Jason Scotland fired narrowly wide after Martin Paterson was caught on the ball before a series of long shots from Rodallega, McCarthy and Moreno all failed to test Jensen.
Despite the home sides improved second half showing their crossbar was left rattling as the game ran into its final quarter.
A neat chipped ball from Nugent found the tireless Paterson in the inside right position, as it fell from the sky we all knew Pato was going to hit it. Dropping over his shoulder it was an incredibly difficult ball to hit first time, but hit it first time he did and despite beating Kirkland it failed to find the back of the net, clipping the top of the bar on it's way our for a goal kick.
After being surprised at his exclusion from the starting line-up I was further surprised at the length of time Chris Eagles was held in reserve.
An open, end-to-end game was the perfect setting for the former Manchester United man but it wasn't until just after the 80-minute mark that he was introduced, too late to make his mark on the game.
As the game stretched and nerves began to fray the home side forced two terrific saves from Jensen. Jason Scotland's turn and shot forced the Beast to tip the ball over before the following corner eventually fell to Mo Diame who swivelled and volleyed in one impressive motion only to be denied by Jensen's agile touch over.
In the final throws of a game in which you need to score there always comes a chance, you can guarantee that somewhere late on you'll get a sniff. Burnley did get that chance but sadly Nugent's effort was blocked by Kirkland.
The on-loan Pompey man led a counter-attack and found himself wide in the right hand side of the penalty area with the Wigan defence scampering to get back. Instead of a low cross for Eagles to tap in he elected to go for goal himself and was foiled, and if missing a chance to win the game was bad then things were about to get much, much worse.
With the clock ticking down and us facing a huge 10 minutes in a season dotted with individual errors, it came, another individual error. This time though the mistake didn't come from a Burnley player - it came from me - I tempted fate.
I was stupid enough to utter the words "this will be our first clean sheet since the Hull game at home" - I apologise to you all for my stupidity.
As Chris Eagles made his way onto the pitch so did Wigan's Victor Moses, sadly their flair substitute managed to leave a mark on the game with a heartbreaking assist after the game had moved into injury time.
Moses found himself alone on the right with Jordan, and despite my pleas from the stand for Jordan to sacrifice a yellow card and haul him down he slipped past him and made his way to the byline.
The cross from there was a good one and Michael Duff, absolutely outstanding otherwise, had let Rodallega get just a yard too far away from him and the striker pounced to claim a stoppage time winner that left me feeling as bad as I have at a football game since Pascal Chimbonda's goal at Ewood Park - if not worse than I felt then.
It's not just the loss of a point that will hurt Burnley. This is a team lacking in confidence and down on their luck - the nature of this defeat will leave the players on the floor, and as much as I hate saying this, I don't see Brian Laws pulling them up from the canvas. This could prove to be a knockout blow.