Wigan boss Ryan Lowe was angry with his side’s “unacceptable” first-half performance after they drew 1-1 at Northampton on the final day of the season.
Tariqe Fosu finished off a sweeping counter-attack to give the home team the lead shortly before half-time, and that looked to be enough for all three points until Dale Taylor equalised in stoppage time.
Wigan then lost Will Aimson to a straight red card but that came too late to affect the outcome.
“I think it was a fair result in the end but the first half was unacceptable and I said that to the group at half-time,” said Lowe, whose side finished 15th in League One.
“There were a few harsh words because that’s not what we expect.
“Northampton made it tough for us with long balls and second balls but we have to be better and the lads know that. The goal we gave away was criminal in my eyes.
“Some players might as well not have been on the pitch in the first half and to be counter-attacked against from a corner is really, really disappointing.
“We said to them at half-time to get the ball down and play more and we sent them out early, and I thought we were the better team and the stats show that and we deserved to equalise.
“We fought right to the end but I want a bit more calmness from certain individuals. There’s a lot of hard work ahead for us in the summer.”
Northampton ended their campaign in 19th, five points above the relegation zone, and manager Kevin
Nolan was pleased with the response to last week’s 3-0 loss at Crawley.
“It was much better than last week,” said Nolan. “We were way ahead of how we played against Crawley, but I must admit I thought our quality in the second half was poor and we didn’t really get going after half-time.
“We could have been better and we could have taken more touches and kept hold of the ball better. It was just simple things but we tried to complicate it a few times and it’s disappointing to concede so late.
“But it is what it is. It’s a good draw and it’s a positive reaction from what was a poor performance last week. Now we look forward to the summer and getting ourselves ready for next season.
“The lads have done done really well since I came in but we don’t want to be in this position again next season and we want to be looking up.
“That’s my drive and I have to make sure I drive that through to my staff and to the players, and that’ll be the aim over the summer.”
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