Caldwell rues 'sloppy start'

Gary Caldwell: Still believes Wigan have what it takes to stay in the division

Wigan captain Gary Caldwell insists they must stop conceding first if they want to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

The Latics have a knack of falling behind in games, as was the case in Sunday's 1-1 draw with Norwich, a game in which they controlled the second-half.

Caldwell insists bottom side Wigan are not a bad team, but accepts that they cannot afford to give their opposition a head start any more.

"It was a sloppy start," he told Sky Sports. "We have to look at ourselves for that. We let Norwich into the game and gave them a goal start.

"It's difficult after you do that against good teams. But we came out second-half and had a right go at them. But we couldn't get that second goal and get the three points.

Team

"When we play well and work together as a team, we're not bad. I think in the second-half we showed that today.

"It's only short periods in games when we let ourselves down and give ourselves a mountain to climb."

Wigan remain bottom of the table, but will be buoyed by a much-improved second-half display, much of which was down to substitute Shaun Maloney.

Caldwell hopes the team can carry their second-half show into their next game against West Brom, and is refusing to throw in the towel in an increasingly tight relegation scrap.

He said: "We couldn't quite do it today, but we've still got belief and I think we showed that today.

"The boys who came off the bench today made a real difference to the team and that can only be good for us."