Wigan Athletic boss Paul Cook: We'll lick our wounds before Rotherham test

The manager wasn’t afraid to criticise referee Stephen Martin for waving way appeals for a foul on Chey Dunkley in the build-up to Tomer Hemed’s strike.

But with a return to the DW Stadium on Saturday to face Rotherham, Cook admits they will have to quickly put last weekend’s defeat behind them.

“Rotherham are a very good side, we have a week to prepare for that,” said Cook.

“We’ll lick our wounds from Saturday, because we are disappointed, and then we’ll prepare for Rotherham.”

Despite Cook not wanting to place the blame at the officials’ feet, the manager feels like the goal 10 minutes from half time in a game Latics dominated changed the complexion of the match.

But he also admitted there should have been plenty of time for his side to get their names on the scoresheet with their dominance in possession and the fact they were on target with five of their 18 shots.

“I pride myself on not coming out and blaming officials because you have 90 minutes to score a goal,” he said.

“But goals change the whole dynamics of a game.

“And that game was changed by that decision and we’re very disappointed.”

Now Cook’s attention turns to getting his side back on track after an impressive start to the season which has seen them win two of their opening five.

But Rotherham will be on a high after beating Millwall 1-0 on Sunday.

Cook said: “This is an unforgiving league, the games come thick and fast and we have to manage our players.

“So while we are all disappointed with this result we wish QPR well.”