James Wilson insisted Bristol Rovers will keep learning after losing 4-0 to Wigan Athletic in Sky Bet League One.
The Gas started brightly but were 2-0 down at half-time after a brace from Joe Hugill, who scored twice from close range after Rovers failed to deal with corners into the box.
Thelo Aasgaard added the Latics’ third after the restart, with Luke Chambers completing the scoring with a free-kick.
Wilson stated that it was a frustrating afternoon and that his side must defend set-pieces better in the future.
“The changing room is really down at the moment,” said Wilson. “It's really frustrating. We started the game quite well and were on the front foot. We then conceded two set-pieces and a third in the second half. It was a tough afternoon.
“We didn’t defend set-pieces well enough. If we defended three of them better, the other goal was a mistake. They didn’t create a goal from open play, so that’s not good enough.”
The Pirates previously kept back-to-back clean sheets at home in the third tier in wins against Northampton Town and Cambridge United. However, they struggled to get back into the contest after conceding the opener in the twentieth minute.
Wilson admitted that his side struggled after Wigan broke the deadlock and that he hopes the young group will learn from it.
“I think the goal took the sting out of us,” said the defender. “I think we’ve got to be better in that moment. We’ve got to forget about it and move on. The energy went out of us after the goal. That’s on us on the pitch, nobody else can help that.
“I think it changes the way some people play, but that comes with experience as we’ve got a lot of young players. Hopefully, we will learn from this moment, but we’ve got to learn really quickly.”
Rovers were looking for a reaction after the break and made two changes, bringing on Connor Taylor and Scott Sinclair, but could not switch the momentum in their favour and conceded a third goal after a mistake from Josh Griffiths.
The West Bromwich Albion loanee has been brilliant this campaign and has kept three clean sheets, with Wilson quick to defend his goalkeeper.
“I told Josh he had been unbelievable,” he said. “In his position, if he makes a mistake, it’s a goal, so none of us can hold a grudge against him as he’s got us out of a lot of tight spots four or five times this season, probably more. There’s no doubt he’ll be brilliant next week.”
Matt Taylor’s men made sixteen summer signings, with a new-look group showing plenty of positives this season. Wilson believes everyone in the squad wants success but knows that the performance against Wigan was not good enough.
“The group is really hungry to be successful,” he said. “None of these boys have really been in this position before, so they will learn as they go. Hopefully, we’ll get on a little run and get confidence. That will be the main thing.”
Wilson later added: “Everyone knows we weren't good enough today all over the pitch, and if you don’t there’s something wrong. We’re going to work really hard this week to try and get better.”
