"ARE you Friedel in disguise" chanted the Blackburn Rovers fans as they hailed a new hero between the sticks.

Jason Brown had big shoes to fill when American keeper Brad Friedel went off injured with a groin strain at half time yesterday - after all, Rovers' Mr Dependable had only missed a handful of matches during his time at Ewood Park.

And his heroics have been well documented, especially from the penalty spot, where Rovers have conceded four spot kicks so far this season - three of which have been saved.

But Brown, who was signed from Gillingham in the summer, fitted into the team seamlessly and, with the game level, produced a piece of penalty magic of his own, stopping Todorov not once, but twice, and going on to deny him a third time.

It was a different keeper but the same result.

And after Rovers went ahead, Brown made sure of the points by touching wide a shot from Paul Scharner.

Rovers manager Mark Hughes made just the one change from the European heroics of Thursday night, with Francis Jeffers given the nod up front ahead of Shabani Nonda, who was forced to sit out after suffering a leg strain against the Austrians.

And there was a place on the bench for former Wigan striker Jason Roberts who was returning from injury.

Jeffers is a striker desperately needing a goal and was the star of the show in a poor first half for Rovers. He tried and tried and then tried some more but that elusive strike didn't come.

Wigan keeper Chris Kirkland was in inspired form to deny him time and again.

The England international keeper also frustrated Benni McCarthy and Jason Roberts before his late calamity gifted the hosts the winner.

Wigan, who were without an away win in eight games, burst out of the blocks and were in front inside two minutes.

Emmerson Boyce skipped past Morten Gamst Pedersen and passed the ball across the area where Emile Heskey got in front of Andre Ooijer to stroke his shot into the back of the net.

Rovers' reply was almost immediate as in-form McCarthy spun Matt Jackson, who replaced the ill Fitz Hall, but drilled his low shot inches past the post.

The South African striker spurned another golden chance when he was put clean through on goal by Robbie Savage, but Kirkland smothered his shot and Paul Jewell's side desperately cleared.

The play was dominated by the home side with Wigan content to break on the counter attack and that tactic almost paid off when the pacey frontman Henri Camara flashed his shot across goal.

In typical derby fashion, the play burst from one end to another and right back Brett Emerton, who pushed his team forward on every occasion, burst through. The ball bobbled into the path of Jeffers but the striker's cross evaded McCarthy and dribbled harmlessly out of play.

Next it was Wigan's turn and Luis Antonio Valencia almost doubled the visitor's lead five minutes before the break when he side-stepped Tugay far too easily, taking it past the Turkish midfielder and unleashing a shot, which had Brad Friedel diving desperately across goal, only for the ball to miss his far post by a matter of inches.

And then Rovers produced a moment of sheer genius deep into first half injury time.

Lucas Neill picked out Bentley, who played a beautiful one-two with Jeffers before calmly side-footing into the bottom corner.

It was his second goal in a matter of days and equally as impressive and important as his 30-yard strike against Salzburg.

After the break, Rovers grabbed a stranglehold on the game and Jeffers and McCarthy both went close before Savage was denied a goal on his 50th appearance for the club when Kirkland got his fingertips to a free kick that looked destined for the top corner.

It was all one-way traffic and Jeffers was guilty of missing another gilt-edged opportunity before Wigan almost stole the points.

Heskey took on Ooijer on the right and beat him for pace only for the Dutchman to slice him down, leaving referee Howard Webb with no choice but to award the spot kick.

Rovers' fans held their breath and Brown held his nerve as substitute Todorov placed the ball on the spot.

Once, twice, three times Todorov tried. And once, twice, three times, the Welsh international keeper was up to the challenge.

Scharner was next to try his luck but he came up against a similar brick wall when Brown touched his fizzing effort wide.

After watching the Rovers substitute in inspired form, Jewell admitted he had began to think his luck was out - and with nine minutes to go he was right.

Captain Neill pumped a long ball up field and with Wigan players claiming offside, Roberts and McCarthy teamed up to net the winner.

Kirkland had a rush of blood to the head and raced out of his area, only for Roberts to touch the ball off for McCarthy to stroke the easiest of shots into an empty net.

The Latics keeper tried to make up for his uncharacteristic error by sprinting upfield at the death, but he was almost left with egg on his face, when Savage broke free and Roberts raced in on goal.

But Kirkland redeemed himself, denying Roberts and then McCarthy to keep the scoreline respectable.

It was Brown, however, who was the happier on the final whistle, and he quite rightly soaked up all the admiration from the home support.