Adrian Lam's reaction after Wigan Warriors' 26-2 loss to St Helens

Their frustration spilled over with John Bateman twice sinbinned - one for retaliation, another for dissent - while Willie Isa was also shown a yellow card, and could face further disciplinary action for an off-the-ball challenge which went unpunished.

"The second half was a nightmare," said coach Lam, whose side trailed 12-2 at the break. "I think the penalty count was 9-1 against and we played half the second half with 12 players.

"I'm disappointed with the discipline, I love emotion and I promote that in the team but you've got to have intelligence with that. We overplayed our hand and it came back to hurt us."

Wigan failed to conjure a single try-scoring opportunity during the game, electing to kick a penalty on their solitary venture close to Saints' line.

"We got a penalty early on, when you're playing the best team in the competition you've got to take the points when you can," said Lam. "That made it 6-2, the next set we got tackled into touch, which is not how we want to be. Everything we tried, we were frustrated.

"The players, they're having a dig. We did look a bit tired at times, we couldn't go to the next level when we needed to, and that's just from the amount of games we've played. At times our defence was brutal but there just wasn't enough of it."

Wigan remain fourth in the table but their failure to beat any of their top-five rivals this season - in six attempts - has hosed down many fans' expectations with five matches to go before the play-offs, starting with the visit of Leeds next Wednesday.

"I've got belief in them," added Lam. "I know tonight was a disappointment and we didn't give ourselves a chance in the second-half, but I'm confident we'll rally. I've got belief in them."