Wigan manager Malky Mackay is hoping that officials will get their heads straight in Wigan’s remaining games after two goals against Cardiff City were disallowed last night.
The Latics lost 1-0 to the Bluebirds at the DW Stadium but James McClean and Martin Waghorn both suffered controversial decisions as their goals were called offside when replays showed otherwise.
The club received an apology from the Referees Association for an incorrect offside that let to Bournemouth’s opener earlier this month but Mackay remains frustrated at Wigan’s continuous bad luck.
“We had a real go and scored what looked like two good goals at the time but they were ruled out for offside and, having looked back at them, they’re both onside so that’s really disappointing for us,” said Mackay.
“It’s equally disappointing as we’ve had word come back to us from the Referees Association this week apologising for Bournemouth’s first goal here a few weeks ago.
“I thought in general we were pretty dominant and started well, then we concede the goal as Harry Maguire challenges Jermaine Pennant and it allows [Arnon] Gunnarsson in.
“It’s probably the one thing on the evening Harry doesn’t do correctly because I thought he was terrific and I can say that about a lot of them.”
The loss means that the Latics are still nine points from safety in the Championship with 13 games remaining.
Despite decisions going against them, Mackay offered out plenty of praise to debutant Jermaine Pennant who he hopes will improve with more game time.
“Emmerson has been a terrific servant to this club,” he added.
“It’s been thoroughly deserved because he’s been such a loyal player for this team. I’m delighted he’s got to his landmark and I thought he showed a real solidness to his performance.
“Jermaine was solid on debut; he’s not played a lot of football recently and I thought he showed his experience tonight – he’ll get better with more game time.”
The Latics face fellow strugglers Blackpool away from home on Saturday in a crucial battle for survival.
Only three points separate the two sides but Emmerson Boyce, who made his 250th appearance against Cardiff, hopes that the Latics can put disappointment and frustration behind them and continue to play for the win.
He said: “When you’re at the bottom these sort of things go against you but we have to turn it around.
“We need to stick together; I’ve said it before but we do. We’ve been through harder times and we need to come out the other side.
“The players are going to do all they can to get us out of this trouble.”
Main image courtesy of Wigan Athletic via YouTube, with thanks.
