Wigan Athletic players challenged to respond to 'first setback'

Latics surrendered a half-time lead to lose 2-1 at Preston at the weekend, to remain bottom of the Championship.

They have a great chance to get back on the horse when Birmingham - who have plummeted in recent weeks - visit the DW Stadium.

And Maloney is confident the mentality in the group will allow them to do just that.

"It's our first setback, but it has to be about the response now," he said.

"The players have been brilliant since we've come in, they really have, with the turnaround they've had, and the mentality.

"Five games ago, there was a real feeling that it was going to be really difficult for us to get out of this position.

"Now, I get a different sense, and that's all down to the players."

Latics didn't lose any ground on their rivals, with all eight teams in the bottom 10 who played ending up losing.

"I'm not really looking at the table too much," insisted Maloney. "For me, it's much more about the level of performance.

"And that was the biggest disappointment on Saturday - even when we were winning, I didn't feel we were playing well.

"The back five, and the two midfielders, were brilliant in the first half, they really laid the foundation for us.

"But in the second half, there were big mistakes, and it cost us.

"We go again, and that's part of being a manager, being a coach."

On-loan Norwich forward Danel Sinani is pushing for a recall, after impressing off the bench at Preston.

"He's looked good in training, and I just wanted to give him that freedom in the final third," acknowledged the Latics boss.

"I told him to be aggressive, go and make things happen, and he did that when he came on.

"I was pleased with him, but it's the same, we start again on Monday to decide who starts next weekend.

"The players had done well against Norwich last week and they deserved to start again.

"But I want to see a real fight to get into the team, and I'm starting to see that now."