Wigan Athletic chief pulls no punches after Reading setback - 'we gifted them easy goals'

Right from the off, Latics were second best across the board, and can have no complaints at a second loss to Leam Richardson's Royals in the space of a month.

Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan opened thew scoring inside nine minutes with a free header from close range off a right-wing cross. from Kamari Doyle.

Reading doubled their lead on 18 minutes when Charlie Savage's attempted cross was turned into his own net by a lunging Will Aimson.

It was almost three when former Latics man Ryan Nyambe crossed for Daniel Kyerewaa, whose goalbound effort was blocked by Raphael Borges Rodrigues.

The only positive at half-time was the Latics were still just about in the game.

But any hope of a second-half revival was nipped in the bud on 63 minutes when Ehibhatiomhan poked home after a scramble in the Wigan box, which was the signal for dozens of Latics fans to start the long journey home.

Latics' afternoon was summed up late on, when substitute Caylan Vickers saw a consolation 'goal' chalked off for offside, before the on-loan Brighton man was denied in stoppage-time by a wonderful save from Joel Pereira.

"We weren't at our best in all aspects of the game, but definitely defensively," assessed Caldwell.

"We gave far too many cheap actions away in that first period, when I thought we were the better team in terms of how we started the game, going forward.

"But every time the ball came forward, our defenders didn't head the ball in the right area, we didn't defend the box very well, and we gifted them easy goals, which at any level will hurt you.

"Against a team going for the play-offs, with plenty of momentum, you're giving yourselves a mountain to climb.

"I thought we huffed and puffed in the second half...in the first 15 minutes, if we had a killer instinct, we could have got a goal that would have changed the game.

"But again, we conceded another soft goal which put the game to bed.

"And I think it's happened too often this year, where there's probably been many moments where you've thought 'this has been the turning point'.

"But you cannot rest, you have to keep doing the right things daily, you have to train well...you can't just expect to do the right things on a matchday.

"In life, when you get plaudits and praise, sometimes it's the biggest negative you can have, because it's human nature to rest on your laurels when you hear that too many times.

"We have to get back to basics, know what we are as a team, and know what we have to do in the last seven games to win enough to achieve what we want to achieve."

Latics are now only two points clear of the League One drop zone, after Exeter City and Leyton Orient drew 0-0 in Devon, while Blackpool beat Burton Albion 1-0 thanks to a stoppage-time winner.