Athletic fell to a disappointing 3-0 loss at Walsall, a defeat that dropped the Latics down to 16th. place in the table. It is a worrying time as the Latics now need to start looking over their shoulders, particularly with some very tough game in the near future.
Dave Penney was obviously disappointed when he told the official website, "We've had better days in the office, that's for sure. We had the disruption of losing Chris Taylor and Alex Marrow to sickness. We were poor today and when we needed to stand up and be counted we didn't do that. It's not easy for the youngsters, they have to grow up quickly and we need them to do that now we're missing experience pro's like Pav and Jon Worthington. But to be honest we've not been ruthless enough in both boxes, add to that the manner of the goals, and especially the second one after going down to ten men, and we're very disappointed."
"I'll have to have a second look at the sending off. The ref was in no doubt, but the fans are calling for it and when you think there's similar scenarios before for us that's not brought the red, it's one of those things. The official wanted everything written down, even though he knew Kelvin was coming on for Rubes and he's just been a little pedantic really. Rubes has pulled his calf muscle and we had to mix and match to be perfectly honest. But there are no excuses. We were very much second best, but we put it to bed and get ready for Leeds on Tuesday now."