With Wigan unbeaten in there last six games and yet to concede in any of those matches, any team would have struggled to beat them today, and with Port Vale languishing in mid table it wouldnÂ’t be an easy Boxing Day.
Both teams gave as good as they got at the start, but it was Wigan who came close first in 14th minute, when Gary Teale found space on the edge of the box and struck a drive that flew wide of Mark Goodlad's left hand post.
With half an hour gone, both goalkeepers remained unchallenged and this stayed the same when Steve Brooker charged down the right to play it inside to Sean McClare who hit a half-hearted effort that trickled past John Filan right post.
All that changed in the 37th minute when a through ball by Nathan Ellington found Tony Dinning who saw his shot charged down by Goodlad.
After a quite first half both teams would needed to find a spark from somewhere to create any kind of opportunities.
After a near miss by Vale Wigan had their own chance in the 55th minute when Neil Roberts headed down on the edge of the box for Lee McCulloch who struck a right footed volley that went just wide to the right of Goodlad's goal.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 69th minute when a corner from Teale wasn't cleared by the Valiants and headed home at the back post through a crowed area by the towering Jason De Vos.
Vales efforts to pull a goal back failed to find the net, with Wigan's strong defence and quick attack, keeping Brian Horton's men at bay and earning themselves a seventh successive win.
Wigan manger Paul Jewell said: "I'm pleased, I thought we were a bit sloppy at times, but one thing we are is hard workers even though they made it difficult for us.
"When we scored, I thought they would have to throw caution to the wind and it's fair to say we could have done better on our breaks."