Wigan manager Shaun Maloney took full responsibility for his side’s 2-0 home defeat to Swansea that edged them closer to relegation from the Sky Bet Championship.
Joel Piroe scored both goals and hit a post before the break as the Swans ran riot at the DW Stadium.
It leaves Wigan eight points adrift with only five matches to go – but Maloney was at pains to protect his players.
“I can’t blame the players for that. I thought they were very, very good, as they have been for 12 games,” he said.
“I’ll definitely take that result on me.
“Coming into this game, we’d been unbeaten at home and in the position we are in, I wanted to be very, very aggressive at our own stadium.
“We could have been defensive for 90 minutes, Swansea are very good on the ball, very good in possession.
“But I made the decision to go very aggressive and the players did everything I asked them to do.
“It was one of those days where it was very difficult for us.
“But it also showed me how much work we have to do on the pitch – and probably even more off it.”
When asked if he’d have picked a different team in hindsight, Maloney added: “When we got it right, we did cause them problems, taking it off them.
“But particularly for the two goals, there were definitely instructions given that we knew if we got it wrong, they could hurt us – and they did.
“Look, maybe I could have done something slightly different on the right side, to stop them getting out.
“But that would have allowed them to have the ball far easier than what they did and I wanted to be aggressive.
“I’m not sure I’d change anything drastically, this is our stadium and I don’t want to defend and give the opposition the ball for that long.
“It was just one of those days where we know we have to get miles better on the pitch.
“And off the pitch, I’ve known since I came in that we have a lot of work to do, so that when we play these teams again, we can give better accounts of ourselves.
“We did have opportunities in that second half, but we have to be a lot more dangerous as an attacking team than we are at the moment.”
For Swansea boss Russell Martin – a former Scotland team-mate of Maloney – it was an enjoyable day at the office.
“I really enjoyed watching us this afternoon,” he said. “They had a really good spell in that second half, which they are entitled to have at home.
“They’re really fighting for Shaun, we watched a few of their recent performances and some of the results they’ve had have been really unfortunate.
“But we handled it well and the only disappointing thing is we didn’t get that third goal which would have really killed it off.
“I’m really proud of the players, that’s back-to-back clean sheets and we looked really solid defensively.
“We gave them very little and at the same time created so many chances for ourselves.
“The goals were outstanding and the second one probably encapsulates everything we work on in training.
“But it can’t happen if the players don’t have the courage to do that.
“They showed an unbelievable amount of courage, against a really aggressive Wigan press and they didn’t stop pressing all game.
“It was a beautiful goal for the players and I’m delighted for the travelling supporters.
“There were a lot more of them than I expected on a bank holiday weekend, but it was a really good day for everyone.”
