STEVE Bruce's position is on the line after Sunderland slumped to a humiliating 2-1 home defeat to Wigan Athletic.

Chants of “Bruce out” swirled around the Stadium of Light after Franco Di Santo's stoppage-time strike condemned the Black Cats to arguably the low point of a bitterly disappointing campaign.

Sunderland owner Ellis Short insisted there was no need to panic in his programme notes before the game, but it remains to be seen whether the American decides to leave Bruce in his position ahead of next weekend's trip to Wolves.

Seb Larsson's early strike looked to have set Sunderland on their way, but after Ali Al-Habsi produced a string of fine saves to keep Wigan's deficit down to one, Jordi Gomez converted from the spot after Larsson tripped Victor Moses in the box.

Wigan gradually grew in confidence during the second half, and Di Santo's stoppage-time strike ultimately landed the killer blow.

Larsson returned to Sunderland's starting line-up in the only change to the side that drew with Fulham last weekend, and the Swede gave the hosts the ideal start.

Al-Habsi fumbled Nicklas Bendtner's eighth-minute shot, and while Kieran Richardson's follow-up shot was blocked, the ball broke to Larsson, who lashed home.

Al-Habsi was clearly at fault, but the Wigan goalkeeper quickly set about remedying his error with a string of fine saves.

He turned Richardson's low effort around the post, parried a powerful header from Wes Brown and produced a quickfire double save to thwart first Larsson and then Phil Bardsley midway through the first half.

He was at it again shortly after the half-hour mark, keeping out a flicked header from John O'Shea, and while Sunderland were completely dominant throughout the opening period, they paid a heavy price for failing to score a second in the 44th minute.

Moses beat Larsson on the left-hand side, and in a panicked attempt to regain his position, the Black Cats midfielder tripped his opponent as he surged into the box.

Referee Kevin Friend awarded a penalty, and Gomez sent Keiren Westwood the wrong way from the spot.

Sunderland could have had a penalty of their own four minutes into the second half, but Steve Gohouri was not penalised even though he appeared to block Jack Colback's shot with his arm, albeit inadvertently.

The hosts' play in the second half was less convincing than it had been in the first, and the first cries of “Bruce out” began to reverberate around the Stadium of Light in the 63rd minute.

Bruce responded by introducing David Vaughan and Craig Gardner from the bench, but Sunderland still struggled to create second-half chances.

Richardson curled a 20-yard effort past the post, before glancing a close-range header narrowly wide of the target after Jack Colback produced a teasing 78th-minute delivery.

And those misses came back to haunt Sunderland in stoppage time. Keiren Westwood and Wes Brown got themselves into a tangle, substitute James McArthur won the ball, and after he squared across the face of the area, Di Santo tapped into an open goal.

SUNDERLAND (4-4-1-1): Westwood; O'Shea (Ji 84), Turner, Brown, Bardsley (Vaughan 66); Larsson, Cattermole (Gardner 66), Colback, Sessegnon; Richardson; Bendtner.

Subs (not used): Carson (gk), Elmohamady, McClean, Meyler.

WIGAN (5-2-3): Al-Habsi; Stam (McArthur 74), Gohouri, Caldwell, Figueroa, Jones; McCarthy, Diame; Gomez, Sammon (Di Santo 84), Moses.

Subs (not used): Pollitt (gk), Lopez, Crusat, Watson, Rodallega.