Playing well and losing '˜can't happen' any more - Warnock

Latics slipped to second-bottom in the Championship table after their latest setback, a 1-0 home defeat to in-

form Derby County at the weekend. The Rams took an early lead through Bradley Johnson, and then managed to hold on for all three points despite a concerted Latics effort to equalise in the second half.

Warnock came agonisingly close to creating the leveller on the hour mark, only to see his left-wing cross headed against the bar by Max Power.

It meant a fourth home defeat of the campaign for Latics, and the sixth time the side has drawn a blank in nine games at the DW this term.

For all their good play, Warnock feels Latics have to make it count on the scoreboard before it’s too late.

“The thing is, we’ve done that on numerous occasions this season,” he told the Evening Post.

“We did that against Brighton here, we swarmed all over them, we created chance after chance, and they hit us with a fantastic goal.

“A lot of teams have been saying that this season, going away saying we’re a good team – but they’re also going away with the result.

“We can’t have that happening.

“We need to either be getting a point out of the game, minimum, or we win it.”

Latics goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen barely had a save after being beaten by Johnson’s header, which boss Warren Joyce described after as a ‘poor, cheap’ goal.

“It is disappointing to lose to a set-piece,” acknowledged Warnock.

“We’ve been strong from them this season, and to lose in that manner is very frustrating.

“We’ve tried our hardest, and we’ve created chances.

“There was probably a bit of frustration in the first half with the way we started, and we know we can’t be doing that.

“We need to start brighter, and I thought we were more positive in the second half.”