Wigan Athletic boss reacts to defeat on his first home game in charge

Latics fell to a 2-1 defeat in their first match at the DW Stadium since Toure took charge.

John Egan opened the scoring on eight minutes with a free header from a corner, and Billy Sharp doubled the lead eight minutes after the restart after Latics again coughed up easy possession.

The last half an hour was far more positive, with Nathan Broadhead pulling one back from close range, although Latics were unable to force an equaliser.

And Toure admits his side left themselves with far too much to do against the second-placed Blades.

"In the first half, I thought we weren't good enough in our play, we didn't put Sheffield United under enough pressure," he said.

"In the second half, it was a much more positive performance, and we have to try to build on that.

"At the moment, I am still assessing the players, and working out what we have here.

"We still have half a season ahead of us, and I am learning about them every single day.

"After a slow start, we played with more and more bravery, we just have to work on doing that for the full game instead of only part.

"We have another week now to work together until Boxing Day, and we will try and take advantage of that.

"The festive period is always a very important time, and we will work as hard as we can to pick up as many points as we can."

Although the Blades will point to Broadhead scoring his goal from an offside position, Latics also felt aggrieved after substitute Thelo Aasgaard was denied a late goal by a brilliant diving save on the line by a United defender.

When asked whether it should have been a penalty, Toure added: "Yes I believe so.

"Their players looked to have two hands on the ball, and that is very hard for us to take."

Will Keane had a great chance to open the scoring inside 80 seconds, only to drill over the bar from just outside the box.

At the other end, Latics were indebted to Jamie Jones for saving brilliantly to deny Iliman Ndiaye, before Curtis Tilt blocked the follow-up from Sander Berge.

However, the Blades scored from the resulting corner, with Egan planting a free header home on eight minutes.

Only a great block from Curtis Tilt denied James McAtee, who then saw a fine shot tipped away by Jones.

Latics fell 2-0 down 11 minutes after the restart when skipper Tendayi Darikwa gave the ball away, and Sharp punished him with a deadly finish.

Darikwa and Joe Bennett made way for Ryan Nyambe and Aasgaard, to join Jordan Cousins, who had taken over from Tom Naylor at half-time.

And Aasgaard almost made a difference within seconds, after Lang had seen a shot parried out by Wes Foderingham.

The rebound fell to Aasgaard, whose goalbound effort was clearly saved on the line by a United defender, only for the referee to wave play on.

Latics broke through on 65 minutes when Foderingham couldn't hold McClean's cross-shot and Broadhead tapped home from a yard.

Despite Ashley Fletcher’s late cameo up top, Latics were unable to fashion an equaliser.