New boss Maloney praises Wigan ‘mentality’ after draw

Wigan manager Shaun Maloney praised the “mentality” of his team after they secured a 0-0 draw at Blackburn in his first game in charge.

Chances were few and far between in an encounter lacking in quality, but that was almost secondary to Latics, who lost five of the last six before the game. They limited Blackburn to few chances and when pressure intensified in the second half, Latics stood up to the challenge.

Callum Lang and Omar Rekik went close, but defending was the priority, and after ending a run of 15 games without a clean sheet, Maloney said the mentality stood out.

He said: “Parts of the first half were OK in possession. Second half we had to defend and we did. It’s been a big part of the last 7-8 days since we came in, we have to make ourselves a lot harder to beat so I’m really happy today.

“First half, I liked the bravery in possession. Remember, I’m asking them to do things they haven’t done in a while really.

“If anything, I thought we could have been more aggressive when we’re attacking, but I think that will come. The biggest thing has to be the mentality not to get beat, to defend the box.

“Martin Kelly made an incredible tackle, they had a man extra in the box. That saves a point. Our goalkeeper kept us in it when we did have a mistake. Yes, I have to love the mentality of the group. It was the standout thing tonight.”

Blackburn are outside the top six on goal difference but have won once in four at home and, first-half chances for Ben Brereton Diaz and Sorba Thomas aside, looked toothless. Jon Dahl Tomasson said his side need to be more clinical.

He said: “We knew that it was going to be a tough game. Despite that, I think we created the best moments and the best chances.

“I think we are disappointed not to take one of those moments. Plenty of crosses and plenty of opportunities, especially the crosses where we should be better in the box as well. You need to score goals to win games.

“On the other hand, out of possession, we were very solid, gave very few moments away. But I think we should be disappointed. Be happy with a clean sheet. But to win games, you have to score goals.

“It’s not just Ben we need to have focus on. We all know scoring is extremely difficult. If you think about Ben, a couple of months ago, he would have scored. He gets chances, which is important but we had other opportunities.
“We need to be more clinical.”