Wigan Athletic boss reacts to Fleetwood Town victory

Leam Richardson hailed the 'very professional response' from his Wigan Athletic players after they bounced back from the weekend defeat to Sunderland by beating Fleetwood Town.
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Latics had to withstand a spirited opening from the Cod Army before taking control, with Will Keane's penalty on 37 minutes being quickly followed five minutes later by James McClean's left-foot strike.

Keane and Callum Lang also hit the woodwork for Latics as they opened up a three-point buffer over third-placed MK Dons - with two games still in hand.

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REPORT: Wigan Athletic 2 Fleetwood Town 0
The Latics side celebrate against FleetwoodThe Latics side celebrate against Fleetwood
The Latics side celebrate against Fleetwood
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And although McClean was shown a straight red card in stoppage-time along with ex-Latics forward Joe Garner - meaning an inevitable suspension - Richardson was pleased with the way his side dealt with the challenge.

"It was a very professional response from Saturday, and that's what you're after," he said.

"This group always reacts in a proper way to disappointment, and they've done that again tonight.

"You never want to get a kick up the backside, in the form of a result like Saturday.

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"But to get back to winning ways, with a clean sheet, was commendable.

"It took a while to get going because Fleetwood came with a game-plan, and you have to respect the way every team wants to play.

"It's never going to be easy with 11 men behind the ball, and you have to make sure you don't leave yourselves vulnerable at the back.

"We had to work hard, wait and be patient, and we did that.

"If we're going to be critical, we probably could have scored more goals and made it an even more comfortable night.

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"We've got a lot of senior players in our group, and the credit has to go to the players for the way they're handling the pressure."

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