'Win one, lose one' tendency is 'not good enough', admits Wigan Athletic star - 'We're not 100 per cent safe yet'

And the defender - part of the club's Leadership Group - says there's still plenty of work to be done before Latics can safely plan for next season in League One.

“It's win one, lose one...go on a good run, go on a bad run...and it's not good enough," said Clare, who returned to the side after suspension for Saturday's 4-2 defeat at Fleetwood, which followed the massive midweek victory over Bolton.

"We're not 100 per cent safe yet, and we need to make sure we pick up those points as quickly as possible so it's an enjoyable end to the season.

"Everyone wants to end the season well, we want to finish as high as possible, and hopefully give us some momentum to take into next year."

Latics started off well on the Fylde coast, and led 2-1 on the half-hour thanks to goals from Stephen Humphrys and Thelo Aasgaard.

However, the Cod Army belied their perilous position in the relegation zone to power home in the second period.

"We weren't good enough for large spells of the game," acknowledged Clare. “We had good parts, we started quite well, but conceded four really bad goals.

“We're having to work really hard for our goals, and at the moment, we're giving away goals too easily, which has been the story of our season.

“As a team, it isn’t good enough, and we find ourselves losing again.

"Consistency has been our main problem this season - I don't think anyone could question our effort or quality, but consistency has really killed us.

"When we've not been good in games, we've tended to lose rather than drawing or even nicking a victory.

"Things could have been a lot different had we had that consistency, but we have to learn it.

"I know it's a young group, but we're all grown men and we all need to chip in, including senior players like myself. It’s cliche but we’ve got a week now to the next game, and we have to put it right.”

Latics weren't helped by a poor playing surface at Highbury Stadium, but Clare wasn't using that as any kind of mitigation.

“We can’t make any excuses," he said. "This is League One, not every pitch is going to be fantastic.

"We went away to Peterborough on a similar playing surface and played really well, so we can't use that as any kind of excuse. The manager will take a lot of blame but as players, we need to front it

because we weren’t good enough.

“We’re professional footballers and we have to be able to play any conditions or scenarios...whether there's 10,000 people there or 10.

"It’s on us. The boys were excellent against Bolton on Tuesday, but we didn’t back it up."

On missing the Bolton game through suspension, Clare added: "It was frustrating to miss that game, but it was my own fault, I can't blame anyone else but me."