Wigan Athletic chief rues Huddersfield Town setback - 'they were there for the taking'

Gary Caldwell felt Wigan Athletic's 2-1 defeat at high-flying Huddersfield Town was a massive missed opportunity to get back to winning ways.

Town returned to the top of League One thanks to their deserved victory in West Yorkshire, with Latics remaining rooted to the foot of the table.

However, the Latics boss says his side fancied their chances of coming away with all three points themselves, only to suffer a repeat of the midweek loss at Oxford by the same scoreline.

"It was a similar story to Tuesday night," he said. "I thought we started the game the better, for the first 20 minutes, but as the game went on, we were a bit less convincing in how we wanted to play.

"We put ourselves under pressure, we allowed them to build a bit of momentum and pressure, and conceded another poor goal that you don't expect to concede against this team, it's not the type of goal they score.

"In the second half I thought we were the better team, we had a go without really creating enough, and we weren't good enough in the final third.

"We conceded another poor goal in transition, which we know they're really good at, that is the kind of goal they score.

"It came at a time when we were just about to gamble and change our out-of-possession shape.

"We get a goal back at the end, but I don't think we made Huddersfield do enough to win, we gifted them the win when I felt they were there for the taking.

"I felt we could have won here today, and I'm sure when I watch it back I'll feel the same."

Caldwell also explained his decision to make five changes to his starting XI - including the huge call to keep on-loan Manchester City midfielder Charlie Gray on the bench for the opening 45.

"I don't think Charlie has ever played three games in a week, and we have to be very careful with certain individuals," said the Scot, who watched the game from the stands due to a touchline ban for accumulated yellow cards.

"We also tried to get a bit more physicality in the team, and there was a change of shape. to try to cause them problems by trying to be more direct and play it forward more.

"I didn't think we did that well enough, or committed to it enough in the first half.

"When they got the lead, they dropped off a bit, we started to play a bit more when Charlie came on, and I thought we looked like a dangerous team.

"I just think it's a disappointing game, because of the opportunity I thought was there today.

"When I look at Huddersfield, I think they can play much better than they played here, and there was an opportunity for us to win the game which we didn't take."