Wigan manager Roberto Martinez believes his side need three wins from their five remaining games to keep their place in the top flight.
Martinez's men fell to a 2-0 defeat at West Ham on Saturday after dominating for large periods, with the hosts bagging two goals against the run of play to earn the points.
The result leaves Wigan three points from safety and Martinez has set a target of three wins for his side to stay in the English Premier League.
"We know what to expect. There is no margin for error," he told reporters. "We've got five games and we need to get, I would say, probably three wins and that's something we can achieve.
"If you look at our performance today we were the better side over 90 minutes. We were very soft in terms of keeping that clean sheet.
"We knew what West Ham could do and the goalscoring ability they have, and I don't think we were strong enough to keep one.
"Apart from that we beat West Ham in every single department. I enjoyed the second half performance. I thought it was as dominant as you're going to see from a team away from home."
Wigan host Tottenham on April 27 knowing only a win will do, and Martinez is focusing solely on their results and not worrying about the fortunes of the sides around them.
"The way we are in this moment of the season is not about the other results. It's about affecting our points tally," he said.
"We are disappointed we couldn't get any points today because obviously we're getting to that critical moment of the season, but we've still got a game in hand on everyone else."
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce was delighted his side were able to win a game which Wigan dominated for large parts.
"If you can win a game in the Premier League and not be playing your best it's a measure of what your determination and capabilities are when things are not going quite your way," he said.
"We didn't surrender and go under. We stayed in the game until we got the opportunity to clinically finish them off which is exactly what we did.
"Our quality of finishing in the end has won us a game 2-0 and we're absolutely delighted to be on 42 points with four games to go."
When asked about signing a new contract, Allardyce remained coy but said he would sign when the right time comes.
"I don't know whether the owners want me to be mathematically safe (until I sign)," Allardyce said. "But the contract is sorted and I will sign."
