League Cup: Wigan avoid slip-up but Fulham and Stoke make shock exits

Paolo Di Canio sprung a cup upset after his Swindon side dumped Stoke City out of the Capital One Cup, while crisis-ridden Coventry shocked Birmingham with a 3-2 win.

Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al-Hasbi celebrates his side's victory in the Capital One Cup against Nottingham Forest

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez praised last night's win over Nottingham Forest in the second round of the Capital One Cup but stressed his focus remains on the Barclays Premier League.

The Latics, who have been knocked out of the cup by lower-league clubs five times in the last eight years, avoided an early exit thanks to an impressive first-half performance which totally outclassed their npower Championship opposition.

Martinez made seven changes to the side who beat Southampton at the weekend and was rewarded with an impressive 4-1 by some of his fringe players.

Mauro Boselli opened the scoring for Wigan just over halfway through the first half, powering home a header from Ronnie Stam's cross.

Mayor Figueroa made it 2-0 with a stunning 30-yard rocket into the top-left corner, before Jordi Gomez's strike on the edge of half-time gave the Premier League side a comfortable half-time lead in a dominant display.

Forest hit back immediately after the break when Republic of Ireland international Simon Cox unleashed a thunderbolt but, even with Wigan defender Antolin Alcaraz's departure in the 78th minute, the visitors managed to keep Forest at bay.

On-loan Arsenal star Ryo Miyaichi raced up the left wing to set up Callum McManaman, who sealed the victory with a simple finish on the 90th minute.

Despite avoiding an early banana skin, however, Martinez admits cup success is not a priority next to Premier League survival.

"Playing every week against the best teams in the country is our best cup competition if you want," he said after the match.

"We've got 38 cup finals. Yes, we want to win every game we go into but we need to be able to do it with the full squad.

"The moment we can make seven or eight changes and be able to be competitive that is when I will be pleased and looking to get as far as I can in the cup competition.

Forest boss Sean O'Driscoll admitted his previously unbeaten side had simply come up against a team in irresistible form.

"We had the best chance and then they hit us with two - we're not going to play against that quality in the Championship.

"We've not got carried away with anything - people say we've been unbeaten and performance levels have been really good, but we've no complaints."

Elsewhere in the competition, James Collins' hat-trick powered Paolo Di Canio's Swindon Town to a thrilling Capital One Cup upset against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium.

Collins had already netted twice for the League One side in the first half before he popped up in the final minute of extra time to seal a 4-3 win and book his team's place in round three.

Second-half goals by Kenwyne Jones and Jonathan Walters had earlier brought the Barclays Premier League side level.

Aden Flint (105) restored Swindon's lead before Peter Crouch (111) levelled, but Collins completed his treble in the 119th minute to send Di Canio's men through.

Sheffield Wednesday also served up a second-round upset as they defeated Fulham 1-0 at Hillsborough.

Gary Madine scored the only goal of the match from the penalty spot after 50 minutes as the Owls claimed the scalp of their Premier League opponents.

League Two Burton Albion produced arguably the performance of the night as they thumped Championship outfit Leicester City 4-2.

Goals from Chris Palmer, Cleveland Taylor, Robbie Weir and Jacques Maghoma saw the visitors to a surprise victory, while Nigel Pearson's men replied through Anthony Knockaert and Marko Futacs.

Nick Ajose struck a last-minute winner as League One Crawley upset Bolton 2-1.

Benik Afobe fired Bolton ahead in the 21st minute but Billy Clarke levelled for the hosts in the 81st minute before Ajose popped up late on to send the Trotters crashing out.

Blackburn Rovers boss Steve Kean suffered another setback in his bid to win over his doubters as Rovers lost 2-1 at League One MK Dons.

Luke Chadwick's second-half brace secured the victory for the home side, with David Goodwillie's late strike in vain for Kean's men.

Carl Baker hit a 97th-minute winner as manageress Coventry upset Birmingham 3-2.

Goals by Cody McDonald and Kevin Kilbane handed the Sky Blues the lead after Peter Lovenkrands had opened the scoring for Birmingham after four minutes, while Jonathan Spector made it 2-2.

Aston Villa were 3-0 winners over Tranmere. Fabian Delph opened the scoring at Villa Park after 38 minutes, before second-half efforts by Chris Herd and Darren Bent added gloss to the score line.

West Brom were made to battle all the way before defeating Yeovil 4-2 at Huish Park.

Reuben Reid fired the hosts ahead on 15 minutes but strikes by Chris Brunt and Shane Long put Albion ahead. Reid's second of the night after 48 minutes put Yeovil back on level terms but Yassine El Ghanassy's 73rd-minute effort and a late second for Long saw the Premier League side through.

Goals from Tadanari Lee, Billy Sharp, Jason Puncheon and Ben Reeves lifted Southampton to a 4-1 win at Stevenage, who replied through Michael Thalassitis.

James McClean scored in each half to lift Sunderland to a 2-0 win over Morecambe, while a Danny Graham strike and a second-half brace for Luke Moore saw Swansea to a 3-1 win over Barnsley, who replied through Bobby Hassell.

A Simon Lappin goal and Wes Hoolahan's penalty guided Norwich to a 2-1 win over Scunthorpe, who replied through Mark Duffy, while Shaun Wright-Phillips, Bobby Zamora and Jose Bosingwa were on target as QPR defeated Walsall 3-0.

Nicky Maynard and Modibo Maiga struck in either half as West Ham defeated Crewe 2-0, while Reading were made to battle for a 3-2 win at home to Peterborough.

Paul Taylor's 12th-minute effort for Posh kick-started a spell of four goals in nine minutes, with Pavel Pogrebnyak (16) and Lee Tomlin (17) exchanging strikes before Chris Gunter (19) levelled for the Royals.

Nathaniel Knight-Percival's own goal in the 38th minute saw Reading to victory.

League One Preston upset Championship side Crystal Palace 4-1. Nicky Wroe grabbed a brace either side of strikes by Akpo Sodje and Jeffrey Monakana for Preston, while Palace replied through Aaron Wilbraham.

League Two Bradford produced a late fightback to dump out Championship Watford.

The Hornets led through Ikechi Anya's 71st-minute strike at Vicarage Road, but Bradford levelled through Kyel Reid after 84 minutes before Garry Thompson grabbed the winner.

Hull squandered a two-goal lead as Doncaster fought back for a 3-2 victory at the Keepmoat Stadium.

The Tigers were cruising thanks to early goals by Aaron Mclean and Jay Simpson, but the home side pulled one back through David Syers before Rob Jones levelled after the break.

Hull suffered a setback when midfielder Paul McKenna received the first red card of his career following a clash with Jones, and Doncaster capitalised to the full as Syers hit a late winner.

Goals from Mustapha Carayol and Cameron Park gave Middlesbrough a 2-0 win at Gillingham, while Leeds were 3-0 winners against Oxford thanks to strikes by Rodolph Austin, Samuel Byram and Tom Lees.

Carlisle registered a dramatic 2-1 win over Ipswich after extra time.

Massimo Luongo's 23rd-minute strike had Paul Jewell's side with one foot in the next round, but Mark Beck struck in the last minute to forced the extra period before David Symington struck a 99th-minute winner.

Burnley needed extra time and penalties to see off Plymouth at Turf Moor after the teams finished 1-1 in normal time thanks to goals by Charlie Austin (37) and Robbie Williams (90 pen).

Goalkeeper Brian Jensen was the hero for the Clarets, saving three of five Plymouth kicks as Burnley won 3-2 on penalties.