Wigan Athletic boss bowled over by support at Barrow - and admits selection regret!

It wasn't the 1-0 result at Holker Street, which saw Latics record back-to-back defeats in the space of 24 hours after losing 2-1 at Tranmere on Friday night.

But it was his selection policy over both games, which saw Latics face Tranmere with - Charlie Hughes aside - possibly the side that will face Charlton in League One next weekend, and a far more youthful squad travelling up to Cumbria.

Indeed, the Latics boss says he knew he'd made a mistake when he saw the huge amount of support in the small Barrow ground just before kick-off.

"I did not expect that level of away support...the amount of numbers they travelled in," said Maloney. "I wish I'd gone with a more senior group to give them an even more competitive game.

"It's not an easy trip, but I've really enjoyed it, it's a part of the country I'd not been to before. It just gives you that little extra reminder of what we're doing it for, why we do what we do.

"Yeah I wish I'd gone with a stronger squad...I knew that as soon as I walked across the pitch to see them.

"We appreciate everything they do, I hope they all had a good time, and hopefully they saw a few players who - in two or three years' time - might become regulars for us."

Skipper Hughes was joined in the starting XI by Steven Sessegnon, Chris Sze, Scott Smith, Josh Stones and new signing Toby Sibbick.

The side was made up of James Carragher, Kai Payne, Jack Reilly, Leo Graham and goalkeeper coach Andy Lonergan in between the sticks.

And there wasn't a single senior appearance to be found on the very youthful bench.

Nevertheless, Maloney insisted he 'loved the game' - and all that he took from it.

"The reason I took the game was to test the mentality of the group, and especially the young players," he added. "It was hard, especially in that second half, we had Andy Lonergan to thank for it only being one, but I thought the players did well.

"I was also happy with the senior boys, but what this will do for the young players is huge. I've had to use an awful lot of them in pre-season, there's been some great stories in there, and it's invaluable in terms of their development.

"Some of them have been thrown in definitely earlier than we'd have planned, but it's a massive learning curve for everyone.

"Barrow are a very good side, they finished just outside the play-offs last season, and they've got ambitions of making that step next time. So it's a big day for the boys, some of them from the Under-18s who haven't even played in the Under-21s.

"Of the senior ones, it was really good to see Charlie Hughes on the field, Steven Sessgnon too, and Toby Sibbick is going to take time to get up to speed.

"There's a few like Scott Smith, Chris Sze, Josh Stones who still have a bit of work to do, but I've really enjoyed the day as a whole.

"I was maybe a little bit angry after Tranmere, after that second half, but the first half was actually very good.

"Over the two games, we've found out football is not easy, after everything went well in the first three or four games...it's shown us how much work there is to do."