Wigan Athletic boss reacts to Burnley setback

Latics were given a rude awakening as they surrendered their unbeaten start to the campaign.

After trailing 2-0 to goals from Jay Rodriguez and Josh Brownhill, Latics ended the first half on top with Will Keane's penalty halving the arrears.

Keane then squandered a great chance to level the scores five minutes after the restart, with Burnley going straight up the other end and making it 3-1 - despite goalscorer Nathan Tella receiving the ball in an offside position.

Two goals in the last five minutes from Brownhill and Samuel Bastien gave the scoreline a lop-sided look, with Richardson feeling his side had not been far off.

"Firstly congratulations to Burnley for the result and the victory," he said.

"If you want to dissect the game, which we all like to do, we're obviously disappointed with the scoreline.

"We'll collectively take it on the chin, and I'll take responsibility for the last two goals.

"You have a choice at 3-1 down with 10 minutes left, of keeping it at 3-1 or trying to force a positive result, which leaves you wide open to exactly that.

"We probably shaded the first half if I'm being truthful, albeit we weren't happy with the way we started, we weren't 'us' for long enough.

"We then came out strongly for the second half and created a big chance, which we didn't take.

"And to then concede the third goal straight away - which looked offside - is disappointing.

"I don't want to take anything away from the opposition, because they beat us.

"It's my job to look into how that happened, and educate the players on how to be better in certain situations.

"At the same time, you've always got to be mindful about where we are.

"There were two leagues between these clubs not so long ago, but we won't use that as an excuse - only a lesson from which we can learn."

It was the first time Latics had conceded five goals in the second tier, but Richardson was refusing to get too downbeat.

"I'm not a person who goes too massively on stats, I think you have to use your own eyes as well," he said.

"Certainly in every fundamental part of the game, we were very competitive.

"We were very worthy of getting back into the game, and I think we finished the first half stronger.

"Coming out for the second half, we missed a couple of good chances, before they scored a third goal which was offside.

"I'll take what followed on the chin, their quality of player came through.

"But in adversity, you learn, you look at yourself, and work out how you can be better."

Latics’ misery was compounded when skipper Tendayi Darikwa was helped off towards the end with a left shoulder problem, which saw him go straight down the tunnel with club medics.