Wigan Athletic chief pulls no punches after Tranmere Rovers defeat - 'I didn't like that'

Latics slipped to a 2-1 defeat at Prenton Park, as a penalty in either half from Like Norris and Brad Walker proved decisive.

Joe Hugill pulled one back for Latics just before the break, and Harry McHugh hit the woodwork late on with a great strike.

But the Latics boss didn't hold back in his assessment of the overall 90 minutes., as the better side – managed by ex-Latics goalkeeper Nigel Adkins – undoubtedly took the spoils

"It was a really competitive outing," he said. "Tranmere were very good in the second half, and the only positive thing is this has happened now, and not next weekend.

"I think this pre-season we have played well, and definitely had the advantage in most of the games.

"Tonight in the second half, Tranmere came for us, and we still played like it was a friendly - and they didn't.

"That was the difference, and the players all know that.

"Apart from the two centre-backs (Jason Kerr and Will Aimson), who I thought were very good, Baba (Adeeko) who was brilliant, Dion (Rankine) the same, and Joe Hugill's efforts with and without the ball, I give him a pass as well.

"Everyone else...they got a message tonight. You can't drift through a game at any level and think you're going to be okay.

"I didn't see a big enough reaction to win the game, which I didn't like. I know it's only a friendly, but I didn't like that."

Maloney also had no issue with either of Tranmere's penalties, given for shirt-pulls against Will Aimson and Hugill respectively.

"No, not really. You have to defend your box properly, that's fine," he added. "You can't pull shirts in the box, everyone knows that, and there's no complaints from any of us."

Latics round off their pre-season preparations at Barrow on Saturday afternoon (3pm), before they open their League One campaign with a home game against Charlton Athletic next Saturday evening (5.30pm)