Ryan Lowe feels ‘let down’ as Wigan crash out of Carabao Cup

Wigan boss Ryan Lowe admitted he felt “a little bit let down” by his players following the 2-0 Carabao Cup third-round defeat at home to Wycombe.

Lowe had wanted a reaction to the 4-1 derby defeat at the hands of Bolton at the weekend but goals from Caolan Boyd-Munce and Donnell McNeilly saw the Chairboys safely through to round four.

“It was definitely not the response we wanted,” said Lowe. “And I feel a little bit let down.

“I gave people an opportunity tonight to come in and stake a claim and they haven’t done it.

“The top end of the pitch, we were nowhere near the levels and I am disappointed, because I felt this was an opportunity to get through to the next round and maybe give our fans a big day out, possibly at a Premier League club.

“I’m disappointed, and the players have been told in no uncertain terms, and they’ve got to show me what they are about.

“Tonight it felt like some players didn’t want to be on the pitch and that’s the really disappointing part, because we have to represent this club in the best possible way and I don’t think that was the case.

“There was an opportunity for some players to come in and give me a headache, and I’ve got none. The only headache I’ve got is from the performance, which I didn’t like.”

On the flip side, Michael Duff was understandably delighted to pick up his second win inside four days after taking over as Wycombe manager.

“It’s been a positive start,” he said. “We’ve tweaked a couple of things but there’s some good players in there.

“They’ve obviously been well coached, and it’s just about trying to add to that rather than ripping it out and starting again.

“I’m still getting to know the players’ names, let alone getting to know them as players, and I might not get it all right straight away.

“But it’s pleasing that they’ve all put their hands up, they’ve all shown they can play, and even though we made 11 changes it wasn’t a youth team – which shows the strength in depth.

“That’s four halves of football we’ve won out of four, and that’s the way I work.

“Hopefully we’ll get a plum tie in the next round, but my focus is already back on the league this weekend.”