Latics boss hints at new faces

LEE Johnson admits Athletic might need to bring in reinforcements.

The manager revealed that Charlie MacDonald apologised to his teammates after spurning three golden chances to turn around parlous fortunes at Crawley.

And with Danny Philliskirk swinging and missing late on in the vain search for an equaliser, the wait for results to match performances goes on.

Next Athletic face runaway leaders Leyton Orient at Boundary Park on Saturday.

Johnson is demanding more from his players after the seventh defeat of the season by a one-goal margin.

“In any game, if you create four chances, as we did, what can you do about that?” asked Johnson. “Philly missed the ball from two yards out and I think my five-year-old little girl could have got more power on it. I could be sitting here looking at a 4-2 win - a whole different scenario.

“We are not far off, but there is something missing. Whether that be one or two players or one or two wins, time will tell.

“Now, it is about individuals producing their best — and finding the mental strength to produce their best. It isn’t four, five, six or seven. It is about all 11 doing it.

“Orient is a tough game, but we move on. Against the top of the league, in front of a home crowd, we will have to be man enough to produce our best.”

Johnson would not reveal what was said in the post-match discussion, but said MacDonald was apologetic.

“He said sorry to everyone,” the manager added. “He tucks those away - all of them - every day in training. Here it just didn’t happen.”

Chairman Simon Corney said afterwards the players aren’t working well enough collectively. “There was no fire and no drive,” he said.

“We definitely had opportunities to score but Crawley deserved to win. We have the talent and a very good manager. Individually we have very good players, but they look like strangers. It looks like schoolboy football at times.”