Blues pulled away from Wigan with a vital win in a five-goal thriller at St Andrews.

Olivier Kapo's late strike sealed the win following his earlier penalty in the first half.

Liam Ridgewell's goal was sandwiched between the Frenchman's first double for the club.

Blues twice fell behind to Marcus Bent goals courtesy of Mario Melchiot's supply, but the youngsters 'never say die' attitude earned Blues all three points.

The thoroughly entertaining game was witnessed by the club's prospective new owner Carson Yeung.

 Steve Bruce had the pleasure of a virtually fully fit squad and opted to make just one change to the side that performed so well against Man City.

Out went Gary McSheffrey and in came Daniel De Ridder.

One name of note in the Wigan line-up was former Blues man Mario Melchiot who is now captain for The Latics, but Emile Heskey was still out injured.

Blues were on the attack right from the start and Cameron Jerome snatched at his shot from the corner of the six-yard box and it flew wide of the post.

Blues maintained the pressure and a minute later Wilson Palacios sent Jerome forward again but the Blues number ten had his shot blocked by Andreas Granqvist on the edge of the area.

Jerome was flying now and minutes later he burst past Paul Scharner down the right before cutting inside and just failed to pick out Olivier Kapo in the box.

The ball remained in the danger area but Daniel De Ridder had his shot charged down by Granqvist.

Wigan made their first venture into the Blues area when Antonio Valencia skipped past Franck Queudrue and curled the ball in towards the penalty spot.

Fortunately for Blues Scharner dived in at the last minute to take the ball off the toes of Jason Koumas who was lining himself up.

Valencia was looking dangerous now and he got the better of Queudrue again but Ridgewell was there to steer the ball over the bar for a corner.

Blues were still looking dangerous on the break and Nafti sent Palacios clear down the middle but he was caught late by Scharner.

The referee let play continue but it was ended by Kapo straying offside and then quite rightly booking Scharner.

Arguably against the run of play Wigan took the lead in the 23rd minute through Marcus Bent.

A long punt up field by Melchiot caught Ridgewell out of position and left Bent with a clear run on goal.

The striker made no mistake letting the ball bounce before smashing the ball past the helpless Taylor.

Blues almost drew level immediately when De Ridder's free kick was acrobatically tipped over by Chris Kirkland for a corner.

The Dutchman raced across to hit an outswinging corner that was met with Queudrue's header but clearly blocked by Scharner's hand leaving the referee with the simple task of pointing to the spot.

Kapo grabbed the ball and coolly sent Kirkland the wrong way as he rolled it down the centre of the goal and importantly levelling the game after trailing for less than three minutes.

Koumas tried his luck with a long-range free kick on the half-hour mark but his attempt cleared Taylor's bar.

De Ridder was showing what the fans had been missing with another run and shot moments later.

Once again the Dutchman was in possession in the box and after some sublime skill hit a rising shot that Kirkland could only parry away from goal.

In the 40th minute Taylor was called into a rare piece of action as he raced out to stop Koumas with a vital save on the edge of the six-yard box.

In the final seconds of the half Blues almost grabbed the lead when Muamba flicked the ball on for Kapo but with just the keeper to beat Kapo's clever chip was just stopped by Kirkland's fingertips.

Half time: Blues 1 Wigan 1

The first shot of the second half fell to Palacios but it was one to forget as it sailed out for a throw-in.

However the first clear chance of the half fell to Jerome but he failed to convert yet another effort. 

Blues fell behind to that man Marcus Bent again in the 59th minute.

Melchiot the provider as he sent in an innocuous cross that should have been safely handled by keeper Taylor.

Unfortunately a complete misunderstanding saw Taylor collide with Stephen Kelly and the ball bounced towards goal.

Marcus Bent was the first to react and smashed the ball in from an inch out.

Steve Bruce immediately went on the attack replacing Muamba.

It almost paid dividends when Jerome jinked past Bramble and hit a fierce near post shot that Kirkland pushed out for a corner.

Moments later Kapo flighted a superb cross that amazingly Jerome failed to head and then O'Connor somehow let it bounce through his legs and the attack was over.

Blues were back on level terms in the 67th minute through captain Liam Ridgewell.

De Ridder's corner was met with a looping header by Rafael Schmitz and Ridgewell pounced to steer the ball home from close-range.

Blues were almost gifted a goal when Kirkland dropped the ball but unfortunately the ball was flashed across the goalmouth and failing to find a Blue shirt.

In the 78th minute Seb Larsson replaced the impressive Wilson Palacios.

In the 80th minute Queudrue's free kick was met with a firm header by Kapo but it looped over Kirkland and just past the upright.

Kapo made no mistake a minute later when he fired the Blues in front for the first time with his second goal of the game.

Nafti intercepted Wigan's clearance with a neat drilled pass to Kapo.

The Frenchman swivelled on the spot and smashed a low rasping shot from the corner of the box that left Kirkland no chance and sent the home crowd wild.

Wigan replaced Antoine Sibierski with Julius Aghahowa in the 84th minute.

Gary McSheffrey replaced man of the match Daniel De Ridder who came off to a standing ovation.

Blues kept their heads and possession at the end of time and voiced their support for Steve Bruce with a chorus of 'There's only one Steve Bruce'.

Full time: Blues 3 Wigan 2

Blues: Maik Taylor, Stephen Kelly, Franck Queudrue, Liam Ridgewell, Rafael Schmitz, Fabrice Muamba (62,Garry O'Connor), Mehdi Nafti, Daniel De Ridder (90, Gary McSheffrey), Wilson Palacios (78,Seb Larsson), Olivier Kapo, Cameron Jerome.

Goals: Olivier Kapo (26(pen), 80), Liam Ridgewell (67)

Wigan Athletic: Chris Kirkland, Mario Melchiot, Kevin Kilbane, Titus Bramble, Andreas Granqvist, Paul Scharner, Jason Koumas, Denny Landzaat, Antonia Valencia, Antoine Sibierski (84, Julius Aghahowa), Marcus Bent.