COYLE UNWINDS ON DW RETURN...
NEW Blackburn boss Owen Coyle accepts his side need to improve quickly after enduring a nightmare return to the DW Stadium as Rovers were flattered by a three-goal defeat.
Will Grigg improvised superbly to re-direct a sliced Max Power shot over Jason Steele to give the Latics an early lead, and with Steele found wanting for the second and third goals, Coyle acknowledged that his team gave themselves no chance of taking anything from the game.
“Each and every one of the goals was very avoidable,” Coyle reflected. “We’ve got to give ourselves an opportunity to win games. What we did makes it hard.”
Grigg showed all the predatory instincts that saw him hit 25 goals in League One last season when Power’s sliced effort swung towards him after 13 minutes, heading the wayward effort over Steele and into the far corner.
Gary Caldwell’s men should have been two to the good before the half hour, with only the woodwork sparing Rovers when Steele punched a long-range effort from Nick Powell unconvincingly into the path of the irrepressible Yanic Wildschut, whose volleyed snap shot rattled the crossbar.
But the Latics’ second was not long in coming. Powell stepped up for a free-kick 22 yards just left of the penalty area, and his ambition in going for goal was rewarded when Steele could only paw at the ball as it arced into the net.
The visitors were on top for the first 15 minutes after the break, but Wigan’s first strong spell of the second half saw them put the result beyond doubt when Steele failed to claim Power’s low cross, leaving Shane Duffy to bundle the ball into his own net in a failed attempt to clear.
“It’s fair to say one or two things were said at half-time which needed to be said,” Coyle admitted afterwards.
“I think our 15 or 20 minutes at the start of the second half were a fantastic reaction. It should probably have culminated in a goal and getting back into it at 2-1.”
But with the 2,240 strong away support imploring their manager to “sort it out” well before half-time, Coyle acknowledged that Rovers need to improve quickly.
“We need to do better, not for 15 minutes, but for the duration of the match,” the ex-Wigan boss said.
“The only way to do that is by working hard and sticking together. I felt for the fans.”
Opposite number Gary Caldwell could hardly have been happier with his side, and said that there cannot have been many better performances in England this weekend than that turned in by the Latics.
“For 45 minutes, I don’t think there’ll be many better performances up and down the country,” Caldwell enthused.
“I thought our pressing was incredible, our energy was incredible, as were the way we controlled the game and passed the ball. We showed real belief in what we’re trying to do.”
And Caldwell’s joy was doubled as Wigan secured the signing of midfielder Shaun MacDonald from Bournemouth.
“First of all, he’s come from a great club with a great style of play, and I think he’ll fit into our’s very quickly,” Caldwell said.
“Secondly he’s a fantastic character who knows the league, who has been on a journey with Bournemouth, and hopefully he can bring that experience to us.”