Sunderland collapsed to their first Premier League loss of the season, as a horribly disjointed performance saw us lose 3-0 at Wigan this afternoon.

Dean Whitehead missed out through injury as Dwight Yorke returned in midfield to partner Dickson Etuhu. Anthony Stokes replaced the injured Carlos Edwards on the right wing, while there was a surprise on the bench, as Keane named no substitute goalkeeper on an attacking subs bench.

Sunderland won a corner in the opening minute - a vast difference from the way they started their last game at the JJB, when we gave away a penalty for the only goal of the game after just 12 seconds! Neither side created much headway early on, with Wigan seeing a penalty shout turned down as Emile Heskey went down too easily in the box, before Michael Chopra forced Chris Kirkland to tip a 12th minute free kick over the bar.

Sunderland fell a goal behind after 19 minutes, when our defence fell asleep as Antonio Valencia's cross found an unmarked Emile Heskey, who was left with the simple task of putting the ball past Craig Gordon to give the Latics the lead. A minute later, Heskey broke free again, but was flagged offside as he would have been left one-on-one with Gordon, before Wigan had another penalty appeal turned down as Greg Halford went in on Jason Koumas as Sunderland were on the back foot, with Valencia and Denny Landzaat blasting long range shots over the bar.

Kieran Richardson's through ball to Daryl Murphy resulted in a fine save from Chris Kirkland, before Michael Chopra saw a rebounded shot blocked, while Craig Gordon needed to prove his worth five minutes before half time, as a Landzaat free kick found Emile Heskey again, but the Scottish keeper got a hand to the header and pushed the ball out for a corner as Wigan went into the break in front after outplaying us for large portions of the first half.

Liam Miller and Danny Collins came on at half time as we reshuffled the side with Collins and Wallace forming a left wing partnership, while Miller and Halford operated down the right, as Michael Chopra came out for the second half with his wrist strapped up following a knock in the first half. Daryl Murphy had our first chance of the second half, mis-hitting a shot straight at Kirkland from a tight angle following a cross from Halford, shortly before Ross Wallace's shot was charged out for a corner.

Paul McShane needed stitches shortly before the hour mark after a clash of heads left him bloodied, and within moments of McShane going off, Danny Collins gave away a penalty when he hauled down Antoine Sibierski in the box. Denny Landzaat stepped up to take the spot kick, and sent Craig Gordon the wrong way to double the hosts' advantage, as Russell Anderson made his debut, replacing McShane. One of Russell Anderson's first actions in a Sunderland shirt was to give away our second penalty of the game after the former Aberdeen man went in late on Emile Heskey, with Antoine Sibierski converting the spot kick to score his third goal of the season.

Kieran Richardson continued his bad performance with an air-shot as Sunderland looked out of it, as Daryl Murphy's attempt to create a chance after beating Kevin Kilbane down the right resulted in the Irish striker failing to find any of his team-mates in the box. Wigan spent the final quarter of an hour dominating possession with Sunderland being out-played in midfield, as they nearly grabbed a fourth goal, with only the glove of Craig Gordon preventing Danny Collins from hitting the back of his own net as we appeared to accept defeat.

What Roy Keane does next will be interesting, as the visit of Liverpool will definitely provide us with our toughest test of the season so far.

Sunderland: Gordon, Halford, Nosworthy, McShane (sub 62, Anderson), Wallace, Stokes (sub 46, Miller), Yorke (sub 46, Collins), Etuhu, Richardson, Murphy, Chopra. Subs: John, Connolly.

Wigan: Kirkland, Melchiot, Bramble, Granqvist, Kilbane, Valencia, Landzaat, Scharner (sub 83, Brown), Koumas, Sibierski (sub 76, Aghahowa), Heskey (sub 78, Folan). Subs: Pollitt, Hall.