Latics boss stays positive in defeat

Photo: Picture: ALAN HOWARTH

DEJECTION: defender James Tarkowski’s face says it all.

PAUL Dickov was left emphasising the good points after last night’s 2-1 home defeat to Scunthorpe at Boundary Park.

The first loss on home soil in npower League One since Boxing Day put a downer on a night featuring what Athletic’s manager felt was the best football of his tenure.

All that was missing for the home side — who stay 13th in the table — was the goals their dominance for over an hour merited.

“If you don’t take your chances and don’t defend properly, you don’t win games,” said Dickov.

“We played some fantastic stuff and had enough clear-cut chances to win two games. We should have been out of sight by half-time.

“When you are creating chances like that, it is important you are switched on at the back.

“The longer the game went on, we got more anxious with our attacking and defending.

“We conceded from a set-piece, got the little bit of luck we felt we deserved and switched off again.

“If you switch off like that and miss those chances, you won’t win games.

“But I am not going to be too negative with them. At times, we were the best we have been in my time at the club.”

Keanu Marsh-Brown was sent off near the end of the contest for a two-footed lunge.

The brawl which followed — it resulted in Josh Walker also getting his marching orders — was ugly and may have further repercussions depending on the referee’s report.

For now, though, lively Marsh-Brown will miss three matches. Dickov had no argument with that decision made by referee James Adcock, though he was aggrieved at others.

“You can’t do that,” Dickov added. “We have seen a lot of times this season what happens if you leave the floor with two feet. It was a silly sending-off.”

Dickov felt that his side lost their way through frustration at not making a breakthrough against the Iron, a side who were lively themselves going forward.

“We said at the break, we don’t have to go and win it in the first five minutes of the second half,” added Dickov, who felt the incident which saw Kieran Lee go to ground three minutes before half-time under a shove was, on review of the match DVD, a sure-fire penalty.

“The longer the game went on, the more we forced things too much.

“Games are coming thick and fast and we have seen already with the little run we have been on how quickly you can push up the table.

“We are all disappointed and I am gutted for the fans. It was a good turn-out again.

“I think anyone who was here would see we are trying to do the right things again and that the boys had a right good go.

“We just need to wise up a bit.”