Wigan boss Roberto Martinez claims his team must be a “nightmare for pundits” after completing another remarkable escape from relegation.

A year after beating Stoke on the final day of the season to survive in the Barclays Premier League, Latics have overturned the odds again to secure top-flight status for an eighth year.

Widely written off two months ago as they languished bottom with 20 points from 27 games, Wigan have produced an even more dramatic escape by doubling their tally to stay up with a match to spare.

Last night’s 1-0 victory at Blackburn completed their turnaround and Martinez, who never lost faith even amid eight consecutive losses early in the campaign, is pleased to have proved people wrong again.

The Spaniard said: “I always had the belief because I know the players and we did it last season.

“We have a young group with real energy, the youth and bravery allowed us to finish really strongly, but more than anything it is the characters in the club.

“We have got 12 or 13 different nationalities in that dressing room but they have got a real responsibility.

“They want to represent Wigan in the right manner and their standards on a daily basis are what you have seen on the pitch.

“To get the results we have of late and achieve something not many people predicted we would in December, I think we are a nightmare for pundits in world football.”

Key to Wigan’s upturn in fortunes was Martinez’s bold decision to switch to a 3-4-3 formation and play with three centre-backs and wing-backs.

The result was a reinvigorated approach which in the last eight games has yielded six victories, including against the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Newcastle and Liverpool.

Martinez said: “We had to do it because whatever we were doing wasn’t working.

“But it is not about systems it is about the way the players can be at their best.

“The way we are playing now probably gets the best from our players. It gives us a real good balance.

“In many ways we are getting better and better and we have been working at it.

“When you have got a group of players who have got such an open mind about things, that has been a strength.

“Another group could have found it difficult to be adaptable or tactically flexible. That tactical flexibility has given us the opportunity to go and get incredible results.

“Now is the time to look back on the season – to go and beat Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool – that is a remarkable achievement.

“This group of players deserve huge credit. Since the (January transfer) window closed, the form has been as good as I have ever seen from Wigan Athletic at this level.

“It has to be a key moment in our history. We have to kick on and make the step up, not be a team that is always fighting relegation.”

Wigan generally struggle to retain their star players when bigger clubs express interest with Charles N’Zogbia and Antonio Valencia among the high-profile players they have lost in recent years.

Speculation already surrounds the futures of some of the current squad with striker Hugo Rodallega out of contract this summer and Victor Moses and James McCarthy highly rated.

Martinez, who could again become a target for other clubs himself, said: “Manchester United lost Cristiano Ronaldo, so it would be foolish of me to think we can keep everyone.

“But what is important is we replace the players we lose. Last season we lost Tom Cleverley, after a loan, and Charles N’Zogbia.

“You have to find young players who are ready to come and develop with ourselves.

“That is the nature of football. The modern game is like that but I am excited about it.

“If you want to carry on developing as a football club you need to be prepared to lose players and invest in the playing squad.”

Martinez did spare a thought for his Blackburn counterpart Steve Kean, whose side were condemned to relegation by Antolin Alcaraz’s 87th-minute header in the pouring rain at Ewood Park.

He said: “I know exactly what he is feeling and exactly what it means to be in that situation.

“I do feel, not just for him, but for the football club.

“Relegation is a big blow but I hope they can get back into the league they belong with the tradition and football club they are. I am sure they are going to do that.”