Wigan boss Gary Caldwell has called for his players to take more responsibility for their play and be stronger mentally as they yet again gave themselves a mountain to climb at the weekend in losing 3-2 to Port Vale.
Vale goals either side of half time meant the Latics found themselves 2-0 down away from home for the fourth consecutive game, only to equalise but then concede again and lose the game in injury time.
Goals from Chris McCann and Leon Barnett looked to have given Wigan a chance of repeating last weekend’s miraculous comeback at Chesterfield.
But momentum was relinquished after Barnett was then sent off for two bookable offences and Vale then scored the winner.
“I’m really disappointed with the performance,” Caldwell told the club website. “To get back into it and lose the game is a big disappointment.
“We have to be better on the ball. We have to take more responsibility on the ball and produce a better first half display than we did because that’s not good enough.
“You aren’t going to be successful if you keep giving teams a two goal start.”
Wigan though with their improved form so far at the DW will be hoping that home comforts come into play and they can get back to winning ways against Fleetwood on Saturday.
Wigan’s home form of two wins and a draw and no goals conceded shows a stark contrast to their away form but the manager is under no illusions that a lot of hard work is needed if Wigan are to push higher up the table.
“Our home form has been good. Obviously we’ve been away the last two games so it will be good to get back home but we’ve got a lot of hard work to do this week in terms of how we play.
“We’ll get back to work on Monday morning and work very hard.”
Around 1,300 away fans made the journey to Vale Park on Saturday only to go home disappointed, but Caldwell made it clear that the dedication to a team relegated twice in the last three years hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“The fans have been amazing home and away this season, and they came in numbers again today. Even at 2-0 down they gave us great backing and supported us.
“Their great voice got us back in the game but unfortunately we couldn’t get a result for them in the end.”
Fleetwood’s upcoming visit will be the first meeting of the two sides since Wigan’s non-league days.
Image courtesy of Wigan Athletic via YouTube, with thanks.
