Sky Bet Championship: Neil Redfearn thought Leeds were unlucky to lose to Wigan

Neil Redfearn thought his Leeds side were unlucky to lose to Wigan in a six-pointer at the bottom of the Sky Bet Championship.

Leeds dominated the majority of the clash at Elland Road, Billy Sharp's effort that hit the bar the closest they came to scoring.

The home side fell behind to an own goal from Liam Cooper in the first half before James McClean secured a 2-0 win near the end.

"I thought we got in front of goal enough, we had enough of the general play, and we made all the running," said Redfearn.

"The first goal is a mistake, and how many times have we said that after being in a good position?

"Obviously that gives Wigan a bit of impetus and something to defend, and to be fair they defended well.

"I think had we got it back to 1-1 we would have gone on to win the game.

"Their second goal is disappointing, you've still got to keep an eye on the back door.

"They get down the sides of us too easily, and it puts a false reflection on what actually happened."

Redfearn also insisted he had no problem with Sharp's reaction to being substituted, heading straight down the tunnel rather than taking his place on the bench.

"I've done it myself - I was far worse than Billy when I played, I was a nightmare," Redfearn added.

"He wants to play, and I understand that.

"But for me looking at it from this side, it's important he understands it's a team game and sometimes you need to change it around to chase it.

"We just wanted to freshen it up, put a different perspective on it.

"I'll speak to him about it, but I haven't got a problem with it."

On the flip side, Malky Mackay could not hide his delight at seeing Wigan record a first win under his stewardship at the sixth attempt.

"Any time you come to Elland Road, with the atmosphere here and the size of the club, and come away with a win is really pleasing," the Wigan manager said.

"Even more so for our supporters to come over here on Boxing Day and see us get a win that was deserved.

"We've been playing okay, we've lost to single-goal margins with individual errors.

"Today one of the big differences was we made the correct decisions on most occasions."

Mackay's men are next in action against Sheffield Wednesday next Tuesday and the Scot cannot wait to build on a much-needed three points.

"We'll take confidence from coming here and getting the win and a clean sheet," he recognised.

"For the last four weeks we've worked hard, but this time we showed those extra bits of quality that at times we have been missing."