Caldwell Reacts to Orient Setback
Wigan Athletic's manager Gary Caldwell was left 'delighted with the performance, and disappointed with the result' after the team's 2-0 home defeat to Leyton Orient in their first home league match of the season.
The Latics didn't make the most of a bright start and fell behind to a scrappy goal on 15 minutes, when they couldn't clear a corner which allowed Tony Springett to put the visitors ahead. And after starlet Reggie Walsh - making his debut after joining on loan from Chelsea - had a goal disallowed, Latics fell two goals behind within 13 minutes of the restart.
Again it was self-inflicted, with a massive mistake by Jon Mellish being punished by Yusuf Akhamrich. Latics are now the only side in the third tier still without a point after two games, but the manager was far from despondent after the game.
"I was delighted with the performance, and disappointed with the result," he said. "You always want to get off to a good start in the league, and win your home games, but when I look back on the game, I'm very confident I'll see a lot of very positive things.
"I think we're doing a lot of very positive things at the moment, but we're gifting the opposition goals, and we're gifting the opposition games. We're playing into their hands in terms of what they want.
"What is that, seven goals in the last three games now? That tells the story of what we need to get better at. The first goal is another second-phase from a corner, which we work on, and it can't happen. The second goal is an individual error, after we spoke at half-time about staying in the game, and not allowing them to get a second, like we did last weekend and in midweek.
"We're a team that hasn't played together a lot, we've got a lot of new players, and there will be teething problems within that. I can see progression, though, while knowing there are certain areas we need to get better at. A lot of our game was good today, and we can't ignore that because we've lost the game.
"There are a lot of positives, and we need to keep building on those." Sparked new signing Walsh – making his debut in the centre of midfield – Latics flew out of the blocks with a number of swift attacks before falling behind.
Dara Costelloe came close to an equaliser, only to lob the ball onto the roof of the Orient net. Walsh thought he'd scored on his debut with a cracking volley from 15 yards, but the flag was already well up on the near side for either a push or offside.
The 17-year-old was almost in again off Max Power's beautifully weighted pass, but this time his shot was just over the bar. After Costelloe fired just wide of the target from the edge of the box, Orient doubled their lead 13 minutes into the second period through Akhamrich.
Connor Barrett, Luke Harris, Archie Harris, Ryan Trevitt and Chris Sze appeared off the bench to try to spark a comeback. Indeed, Sze almost scored with his first touch, only to be denied by a good save from Orient's replacement goalkeeper Noah Phillips, who otherwise had very little to do.
What Happened?
Wigan Athletic's 2-0 home defeat to Leyton Orient in their first home league match of the season was a disappointing result for the Latics, but manager Gary Caldwell was 'delighted with the performance, and disappointed with the result'.
Why it Matters for Wigan Athletic
The Latics are now the only side in the third tier still without a point after two games, but the manager was far from despondent after the game. He believes that the team is doing a lot of positive things, but needs to get better at gifting the opposition goals and games.
What Comes Next?
Wigan Athletic will look to bounce back from this defeat and get their first points on the board in their next match. They will need to work on their defensive solidity and avoid gifting the opposition goals and games.
League Standing
Wigan Athletic are currently 16th in the League One table, with 56 points from 46 games last season. They are 47 points behind leaders Lincoln and have a goal difference of -9 this season.
Recent Form
Wigan Athletic's recent form has been LLDWW, with two wins and three losses in their last five games. They have scored 49 goals and conceded 58 this season.
Last Result
Wigan Athletic's last result was a 1-0 defeat to Stevenage on May 2nd, 2026.
Image Prompt
A tight action crop of an anonymous 30-year-old male coach in a Wigan Athletic kit (blue and white stripes, made of a smooth, unbroken fabric) with a floodlight rim light, 85mm f/1.4 lens, shallow depth of field, and photorealistic skin and fabric texture, with sharp focus on the eyes, showing him reacting to a goal being scored in the background.
