If the first two stages of relegation are deflation and devastation, it is a sign of the times that they were swiftly followed at Bramall Lane yesterday by solidarity in the threat of litigation. Sheffield United and Wigan Athletic had been separated by goal difference, to the Yorkshire club’s despair, but whether on the pitch, on the terraces and in the boardroom, their representatives stood shoulder to shoulder as they united against a common foe.

Even as they celebrated at the final whistle, Wigan’s players, supporters and directors found the time to console their vanquished opponents. While Neil Warnock, the Sheffield United manager, struggled to swallow what he called the “bitter pill” of relegation, Paul Jewell talked of backing the relegated club in “the quest for justice”. And what did Jewell mean by justice? “West Ham should have points deducted and shouldn’t be allowed to play next season in the Premier League,” he said, addressing the wider issue at a time when he would have been entitled to celebrate his team’s heroic survival.

With Warnock sending a couple of caustic swipes in the direction of Rafael Benítez and Sir Alex Ferguson for team selections that played into the hands of Fulham and West Ham respectively over the final two weekends, it made for a strange atmosphere. No one, it seemed, could believe that Sheffield United had been relegated and that “justice”, genuine or perceived, had not been done.

The word justice will continue to fly around as Sheffield United, with the backing of Wigan, Fulham and Charlton, speak to their lawyers over the coming days, but Warnock will not be a part of it. “That’s for the directors and the board,” he said. “No one can understand why there hasn’t been a points deduction [for West Ham], but I don’t think anyone else will be bothered by Monday or Tuesday. It’s Sheffield United – so what? Whereas West Ham are a big club with a big reputation. And they’ve obviously got good solicitors.”

For Warnock, the Carlos Tévez affair is merely one of several injustices that have contributed to his team’s relegation. Last night, he recalled “the two worst decisions of the season” by Rob Styles – one penalty awarded to Liverpool at Bramall Lane on the first day of the season and another that was not awarded to his team away to Manchester United last month – but he also have reflected on the bitter irony of the final blow being inflicted from the penalty spot in first-half stoppage time by David Unsworth, who was sold to Wigan in January and was one of three Sheffield United players to miss from the spot in a goalless draw with Blackburn Rovers in September.

It was Unsworth’s first goal for Wigan and he would not have been on the pitch had his team not lost two of their back four inside the first 43 minutes. Needing a first win in nine matches in order to survive, they could have feared the worst when first Arjan de Zeeuw, the captain, limped off and then Ryan Taylor departed on a stretcher, but Jewell’s players showed character throughout – none more than Emile Heskey, who took the captain’s arm-band after De Zeeuw’s injury and produced a lion-hearted performance.

Heskey did not score, but he played a part in the opening goal after fourteen minutes, holding the ball up well and spreading play wide to Kevin Kilbane. The former Everton winger crossed into the penalty area, where Paul Scharner swept home a low first-time shot.

It was no less than Wigan deserved for the purpose they showed from the start. Perhaps, as Jewell suggested, it pays in these circumstances to be the team needing to win rather than having only to avoid defeat. The home team seemed gripped by anxiety, but managed to equalise in the 38th minute as a cross from Phil Jagielka was met bravely by the head of Jon Stead. As the ball landed in the net, Stead suffered an ugly clash of heads with Mike Pollitt, but the more serious injury was to Taylor, who landed awkwardly after tripping over Pollitt.

At that point, Wigan were heading for the Coca-Cola Championship, but in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time, after Jagielka handled a Kilbane free kick, Unsworth beat Paddy Kenny from the spot. Sheffield United had most of the possession in the second half, but they could not find a way through as Wigan’s players threw themselves into every challenge.

Lee McCulloch, earlier booked for dissent, was sent off for an untimely lunge on Michael Tonge with 16 minutes remaining, but still Wigan held firm, with Heskey typifying their new-found resolve as they held on to survive.

Warnock shrugged it was “all part of the ironies of football” that Unsworth scored the winning goal, but he will wonder why his team are often on the wrong end of such dramas. In 1994 they were sent down from the Premier League on the final day after a last-minute goal by Mark Stein, of Chelsea. Then, as now, relegation was accompanied by the knowledge their team had choked when it mattered most.