'Belief' not lacking at Wigan Athletic, says Tom Pearce

Although going down to a 2-0 defeat, Latics – with seven players making their league debuts – were the better side for long periods at Portman Road.

And had teenage defender Emeka Obi done better with two free headers early on, and Joe Garner not hit the bar with a clever bicycle kick, the result could easily have been different.

Considering the off-field carnage of recent weeks, it proved the players who remain at the club are not ready to throw in the towel just yet.

“As footballers you always have to believe in yourself...if you don’t believe in yourself then there is no point,” Pearce said.

“The staff and the players believe we can still go out and get points and hopefully, as the weeks go on, then it will get easier as we get used to each other.

“The manager only came in on Saturday and he spoke to us about how he wanted to play.

“And having only had one session with him, a full week leading up to Gillingham (next weekend) will be a massive help.”

Having arrived from Leeds last summer, Pearce is already one of the longest-serving players at the club.

And he showed some nice touches down the left-hand side, working well with new-boy Viv Solomon-Otabor.

“In training, we have been working on [the combination with Viv all week,” the Ormskirk-born left-back revealed.

“He started on the right-hand side but, when he came over to the left, I felt like me and him linked up well, with me on the overlap and him cutting inside.

“Hopefully that can become a good partnership.

“I think there were a lot of positives for us, especially in the first-half.

“From both sides we had crosses coming into the box and chances from which we could have taken the lead.

“It just wasn’t meant to be today but we kept positive, kept trying and we can keep going.”