Fabio Capello take note. David Beckham might be back in the England squad, but another DB showed why the future on England's right belongs to him.
This feisty Lancashire derby should have been about Wigan's scrap to avoid the dreaded drop and Blackburn's desire to keep their hopes of European qualification alive.
Instead, it turned into the David Bentley show, the former Arsenal man single-handedly dragging Rovers to victory as both sides finished with 10 men.
Twice he supplied the ammunition for the deadly Roque Santa Cruz. He was at the heart of every move, wandering from his wide berth to pick up possession in the middle and on the left to get his side going.
Manager Mark Hughes claimed Bentley's showing should prove to Capello that he is ready to make his mark at international level.
He said: "David always keeps the ball and looks to create something. His longer passing today was excellent.
"He made a case for a regular start in the England side and he's kept on playing well ever since.
"Whether he starts on Wednesday depends on the circumstances but he's made a great start to the tenure of Mr Capello.
"We've been trying to reward him for his form with a new contract, but no doubt we'll try to bung an extra few years on there too."
Bentley imposed himself from the start. Capello may have been at White Hart Lane, but it was the sort of full-throttle 90 minutes designed to send a clear message to the Italian.
He tested Chris Kirkland - who celebrated his own England call-up with the traditional injury scare after three minutes - with one fizzing drive, before firing in another fierce shot which the Wigan keeper could only parry into Santa Cruz's path.
But Steve Bruce has instilled a spirit in Wigan that had seen them lose just one of their previous six games.
Andre Ooijer's stray back header let in Emile Heskey, only for the striker to be hauled down by Chris Samba, who was sent off. Marlon King put away the spot-kick for his first goal since his £5million move from Watford.
Rovers again looked to Bentley for inspiration. A perfectly-flighted free kick struck a post, and then an inch-perfect pass allowed Jason Roberts to feed Santa Cruz, who fired at the keeper.
Then a freak, horrific injury to Erik Edman - a feared ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, meaning six months out - threw Wigan into disarray.
Blackburn capitalised within minutes. Roberts latched on to Santa Cruz's flick, turned Emmerson Boyce and coolly slid the ball between Kirkland's legs.
Bentley killed the game as a contest after 63 minutes. A jinking run down the left ended in a cross to the far post that landed nicely for Santa Cruz to flash a header past Kirkland.
When Wilson Palacios was sent off for a second bookable offence, any hopes of a Wigan comeback vanished.
Bruce admitted Bentley caused his side all sorts of problems, but felt the game turned on Edman's injury.
He said: "It really affected us badly. It was just one of those games where everything went against us."
DID YOU KNOW?
This was the 10th meeting between these two. Wigan's only previous win was 5-3 last December at the JJB when goals from Landzaat, Scharner and a Bent hat-trick won it.
STAT ATTACK
STORY OF THE GAME
BLACKB'N WIGAN
59% POSSESSION 41%
7 SHOTS ON TARGET 7
6 SHOTS OFF TARGET 5
1 CORNERS 9
21 FOULS CONCEDED 17
0 OFFSIDES 3
1 YELLOW CARDS 2
1 RED CARDS 1
HOW THEY RATED
BLACKBURN
Friedel 6, Ooijer 5, Khizanishvili 6, Samba 4, Warnock 6, BENTLEY 9, Reid 6, Dunn 7 (Mokoena 6), Pedersen 7, Santa Cruz 9 (McCarthy 6), Roberts 7 (Tugay 6).
Manager Hughes 7
WIGAN
Kirkland 7, Melchiot 6, Boyce 6, Scharner 7, Edman 6 (Taylor 6), Valencia 7, Brown 6, Palacios 5, Kilbane 5, Heskey 6, King 7 (Bent 6).
Manager Bruce 6
Referee M Dean 6
NEXT 4 PREM FIXTURES
BLACKBURN
READING (A), TOTT'HAM (H), LIV'POOL (A), MAN UTD (H)
WIGAN
PORTS'TH (A), BIRM'HAM (H), CHELSEA (A), TOTT'HAM (H)
HEAD TO HEAD
Jason Roberts v EMILE HESKEY
Heskey may not be fully fit but his sheer presence was enough trouble Blackburn. Won the penalty which saw Chris Samba sent off. But Roberts had the last laugh as his cool finish sent his former side on the road to defeat.
Man of the MATCH
DAVID BENTLEY
Looked a class apart all afternoon, even in a high-quality Blackburn side. Given licence to roam, he drifted all over the pitch to pick up possession - and every time he got the ball he looked menacing.
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JONATHAN PEARCE
ALEC STEWART
THE MOLE