Mistakes costing Athletic - Wellens

Athletic boss Richie Wellens will hope his side bounces back tomorrow (Easter Monday) as they host Blackpool

Athletic boss Richie Wellens rued defensive errors after side were beaten 3-0 at Sky Bet League One automatic promotion chasers Wigan.

The hosts sealed their victory thanks to strikes from Will Grigg, James Vaughan and Nick Powell.

They went to the top of table and look a great bet to seal elevation back to the Championship, while Athletic dropped back into the relegation zone as a result.

Wellens said: “For 40 minutes it was a very even game, they had chances and we had chances.

“I thought we started really well and then for 10 minutes they were on top and I wanted us to manage the game a bit by breaking it up and slowing it down.

“We finished the first half really strongly, Davies had a good chance and went one on one and Doyle had a couple of chances.

“They broke away from our left wing position to score the fist goal right before half time, it was a killer blow, but not a blow that we couldn’t come back from.

“The second goal absolutely killed the game off and drained a bit of life out of us because it’s obviously a shocking mistake.

“We gave it a good go then for 15 minutes but when you give someone like Nick Powell who is the best player in this league the opportunity to shoot from the edge of the box he’s going to punish you and he did.

“Mistakes are costing us a little bit we had enough chances to score here.

“The first goal was always going to be big but when they were going through a tricky spell they have players that can recognise periods of the game and areas of the pitch to fill and slow down the game and I think we lacked that at times and I think that was the difference between the two teams.”

Next up, Wellens’ side are back at Boundary Park for the visit of Blackpool tomorrow, a Lancashire derby match which the manager is relishing.

“We’ve got a game on Monday so the turnaround is quick,” said Wellens.

“The game against Wigan isn’t going to determine if we stay up or not, only Blackpool and Bradford have won at Wigan.

“Our home games are the games we really need to focus on and make sure we get maximum points from them.”