Wigan 1 Doncaster Rovers 0 - Darren Moore wants Rovers to be more ruthless

Joe Garner’s second-half goal was enough to settle a tight League One encounter at the DW Stadium, but Rovers had several chances to take the lead before that strike.

Moore said: “The main reason we lost the game was the chances we missed, we felt the game should have been out of sight at half time.

“The team know that we should have been in front at the break and we’ve spoken about being more ruthless.

“We created plenty of chances and had enough of them to be going home with all three points in the bag.”

Doncaster should have been in front by the interval, with James Coppinger twice being denied by goalkeeper Jamie Jones, before Jon Taylor fired wide against his hometown club after great work from former Wigan defender Reece James.

And the hosts made them pay for their profligacy after 59 minutes when Garner was in the right place at the right time to nod home Viv Solomon-Otabor’s right-wing cross.

Solomon-Otabor could and should have made it 2-0 within two minutes, but Rovers goalkeeper Joe Bursik pulled off a fine save at point-blank range.

The loss was Rovers’ first of the league campaign. He added: “We don’t want to lose any game and we’re always disappointed with the goals we concede but we can’t look back now.”

Wigan: Jamie Jones, James, Johnson, Naismith, Pearce, Merrie, Perry, Solomon-Otabor, Lee Evans, Massey, Garner (Crankshaw 90). Unused substitutes: Cameron, Gardner, Obi, Joseph, Owen Evans, Jolley.

Doncaster: Bursik, Halliday, Anderson, Wright, James (John 67), Gomes, Whiteman, Taylor, Richards (Williams 84), Coppinger (Okenabirhie 71), John-Jules. Unused substitutes: Jones, Amos, Butler, Hasani.

Referee: C Boyeson (E Yorkshire).

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