Wigan Athletic chief pleased with key duo in Morecambe run-out ahead of EFL opener

Goals in either half from Thelo Aasgaard and Luke Brennan gave the visitors a victory that was far more comfortable than the scoreline suggested.

And the Latics boss admitted his only criticism was the side not finding the goals their overall performance warranted.

"I was very pleased with that, especially in the first half," he said.

"The first 60 minutes was probably as good as anything we've played in pre-season.

"And I actually liked how we coped with the last half-hour, when we had to suffer and we had to defend.

"I know the manager here (Derek Adams), I know he's a competitor, and we knew what to expect.

"You can't always have the ball in a game, but you can make sure you do enough to win a game.

"Sam (Tickle, goalkeeper) had to make a good save from a short set-play, but we have to be more ruthless when we are as good as we were in that first half.

"When you're that good for that length of time, we have to be two or three up rather than just one.

"But that's going to take time, and that's a mindset change thatI have to put in place."

Pick of the Latics side were central midfield duo Aasgaard and news signing Matt Smith, who dictated the play and sprayed the ball around impressively.

"We're asking Thelo to play slightly deeper at times, and then if we can play through that pressure, we can allow him to go higher," acknowledged Maloney, who also handed Liverpool loanee James Balagizi his first start.

"I'm creating a structure for the likes of Thelo and Matt Smith, and then they have the freedom to play within that.

"Thelo and Matt played well alongside each other, and I was also pleased with James Balagizi getting that 60 minutes under his belt.

"Hopefully we can build him up over the next few weeks, and I also saw an improvement in him tactically.

"It's just more sessions, and it's the same with Liam Shaw and Kell Watts.

"They're only around eight days with us, and probab;ly four weeks behind the group tactically, so there's still a bit of work to do."

Brennan's goal - a superb curling strike from distance - secured the victory in stoppage-time, after Aasgaard had headed home Baba Adeeko's cross on 18 minutes.

"Thelo's certainly improving his heading," added Maloney. "And, if he can keep doing that, there'll be more goals to come from him.

"Brenno’s had a good pre-season, he came back in really good shape.”