Latics' boss Lee Johnson was full of praise for the battling performance in the 0-0 draw against Gillingham but is still aware of their weaknesses in the scoring department. They managed 15 shots on goal but none were good enough to secure the three points. Fans are questioning why the Latics play with one up front, especially at home, when two strikers have brought more success. Tinkering with the squad doesn't always bring results and why fix it if it isn't broken? On the positive side another clean sheet was a credit to the defence qualities that the side have started to display.
Johnson commented, "I thought we were outstanding outside the box and I thought we controlled the game. I heard we had 77% possession throughout the game and I thought the final ball and finish was out. I'm really frustrated like everybody out there. I thought my back four and midfield were fantastic but I don't think my front four (see above) and subs were dangerous enough on the day. It's still early days in the league and it's not a bad start. We are a decent side and we showed that today."
"We have to lick our wounds a bit inside the box because outside it, we were excellent. We just need to add bits that need to be added inside the box. We had many waves of attacks and we were unlucky. We can't be too down as we are still work in progress. A point is a point and in this division you can see that the results are topsy-turvy. We have two very difficult away fixtures coming up now and we have to go and get a result from them now."
Amari Morgan-Smith made the miss-of-the-game in the dying minutes and the boss went on, "You've got to be aggressive and man enough to finish the ball. Amari's done everything right apart from the finish but we are looking for someone to be the hero and there wasn't one today."
Conor Wilkinson made his debut and Johnson added, "I thought he did okay. He was smooth and was good on the ball. I've told him that it's not under 21s football now. In the under 21s, when the points aren't life or death, sometimes his play was okay but he should have more desire to get in the box and score goals. For his first half hour in League One, I thought he did alright."