Greenacre doubled his tally for the season

Stoke 3-0 Wigan

Stoke swept aside Second Division leaders Wigan to continue their revival under manager Tony Pulis and book their place in the FA Cup fourth round.

Summer signing Chris Greenacre, with just two goals in his first 15 games, doubled his tally for the season by scoring either side of half-time.

In between, Chris Iwelumo grabbed his fourth goal in the last five games as Stoke completed a hat-trick of home wins in eight days.

What we really need is a good draw in the next round so we can afford to bring in a couple of players to help steer us clear of relegation Stoke manager Tony Pulis

The home side, buoyed by successive wins over Sheffield Wednesday and Preston, started confidently and took only 19 minutes to break the deadlock.

Greenacre swept home Bjarni Gudjonsson's corner from six yards past John Filan.

And he could have added to his tally on 27 minutes but fired Peter Hoekstra's cross wide of the right-hand upright.

Key moments

19mins: Greenacre edges corner past John Filan 32mins: Iwelumo's stunning volley makes it 2-0 37mins: Jarrett header saved by Cutler 67mins: Greenacre slots home for victory

After a brief period of pressure from the visitors, City stretched their lead in the 32nd minute.

Iwelumo fed Hoekstra on the right and, when the Dutchman delivered the final ball, Iwelumo was in the right place to volley a superb strike past Filan.

Wigan could have pulled a goal back five minutes later when Nicky Eaden's cross saw Jason Jarrett head goalwards but Neil Cutler made the save.

And twice after the break Gary Teale had a part in chances that could have thrown Wigan a lifeline. First Teale's cross was volleyed over the bar by Andy Liddell, then Cutler made a smart save to deny Teale from 18 yards.

I'm disappointed to be out of the cup but wining promotion is obviously our number one target Wigan manager Paul Jewell

Wigan boss Paul Jewell had surprisingly left leading scorer Nathan Ellington on the bench and only brought him on when the visitors were two goals down.

Within three minutes of coming on, Ellington wasted a golden opportunity to pull the Latics back into the tie but he headed fellow half-time substitute Lee McCulloch's cross wide from six yards.

Having weathered that storm, City made sure of their passage with the third goal.

And when Greenacre headed home his second in the 67th minute, the tie was truly beyond Wigan's reach.

Marcus Hall made ground on the left before picking out Greenacre and the striker dispatched the ball with ease.

Stoke: Cutler, Thomas, Handyside, Shtanuk, Marcus Hall, Gudjonsson (Neal 90), Gunnarsson, O'Connor (Henry 90), Hoekstra, Iwelumo, Greenacre (Goodfellow 85).
Subs not used: Marteinsson, Viander.

Booked: O'Connor, Hoekstra.

Wigan: Filan, Eaden, Jackson, Breckin, Green (McCulloch 46), Kennedy, Jarrett, Mitchell, Teale, Liddell, Roberts (Ellington 46).
Subs not used: Flynn, Beasant, Brannan.

Booked: Jarrett.

Att: 9,618

Referee: A Butler (Nottinghamshire)