Wigan Athletic boss delivers passionate 'in it as a collective' verdict as Latics aim to bounce back

Latics’ poor performance during Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Leyton Orient was in sharp contrast to the opening day victory at Northampton.

Lowe had reflected on how neither result would determine or define their season, he says it’s the reaction that is important.

“We're all in it collectively, aren't we? And the lads are a good set of lads,” he said.

“I'm not having a go at them too much. What they gave us last season, last year, was totally not (Saturday).

“We tried a little bit, we often puffed a little bit in certain areas, but you've got to be on the money, haven't you, when you've been to these places and we just weren't, we didn't compete enough.

“Without being disrespectful, they haven't had to work too hard for it, they've just now battled us.”

While the result was poor, it was the ‘soft’ nature of the performance which left Lowe most frustrated.

“I wasn’t too harsh, I said one or two things and they see that, they're disappointed,” he said.

“They know that's on them, it's not a performance that warrants anything really. If we’d come away from there with a 0-0 or a 1-1, I'd still be disappointed with the performance because we were out-battled and out-fought, and when you come to places like Leyton Orient, you can't do that.”

Latics will be without Will Aimson and Steven Sessegnon for Saturday’s visit of Peterborough, and with James Carragher picking up a knock at Leyton Orient, he could have some selection headaches.

However, Lowe will be hoping to have new signing Morgan Fox ready to step into the defensive line as he looks forward to an improved performance.

“We’ve got opportunities to put it right,” said Lowe. “(Orient) is not going to define our season, like last week is not going to define the season; a good performance, good win, three goals.

“It was just a little bit of a soft underbelly, and I didn't like it. We'll have to address that and look at the changes we've made.”

Lowe went over to the Latics fans after the game, apologising for what had been a dour performance.

He acknowledged the time, effort and money spent to follow the club after the game.

“They’re brilliant,” he said. “I’m made up they came but gutted they have to go home with nothing.

“I hope they go away and think, you know what, hopefully it's an off day for the lads. We’ve done everything right, we’ve prepared right, everything down to a tee as much as it can and sometimes you have to pay the opposition a little bit more respect than you normally would want to because they were on it today.”

Latics will aim to bounce back at their Brick Community Stadium home on Tuesday evening when they take on League Two side Notts County in Round One of the Carabao Cup, 7:45pm kick-off.