Wigan Athletic chief makes 'exceptional' claim after Bromley beaten
Wigan Athletic boss Gary Caldwell was delighted - and relieved - after his side moved up three places by beating Bromley, who replace them at the foot of League One
Gary Caldwell hailed the ‘emphatic’ way Wigan Athletic responded to the shock of going an early goal down to beat fellow strugglers Bromley, which sees them climb off the foot of League One.
Kamarl Grant put the visitors up inside six minutes at the Brick Community Stadium, which led to a section of the Latics fanbase chanting against the ownership of the club.
On the field, Christian Saydee levelled the scores with his third goal of the season, before K’Marni Miller scored his first senior goal to put Latics ahead by the midway point in the first half.
Latics couldn’t make the most of some decent chances, and paid a high price when George Saville levelled the scores in added time at the end of the first half.
However, Caldwell’s men dusted them down, and forced a winning goal just before the hour mark when Brad Burrowes - on loan from Aston Villa - scored the first goal of his senior career to secure a priceless three points.
"It's why you play the game,” acknowledged Caldwell. "Before the game, I asked the players if they had friends and family here today, and why did they come to watch them?
"They all said to support us, but also to see us win.
"So I told them to make sure they all saw us win today, and I thought it was a thoroughly deserved victory - albeit with some very difficult moments within the performance.
"Some of our play was exceptional, we scored three goals - which is a huge bonus - but clearly we have to get better at certain situations within our defensive moments in the game.
"When you've been struggling to score goals and struggling to win games, and you go an early goal down to a team that's set in a medium-to-low block, they're going to make it very difficult for you.
"I think that asked a big question of our belief in how we play as a football team, our mentality, and we answered that question emphatically in the way we responded.
"To score the two goals was great, but we could have scored more in that period - and we have to be even more ruthless - because we then conceded a second goal and came in at half-time at 2-2 when we should have been out of sight..."