Wigan Athletic boss Kolo Toure ponders Sunderland test and insists Latics will be ready

Wigan lost their last game against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium 4-1 in the Championship on Boxing Day with Toure yet to win again since his appointment at the DW Stadium after Leam Richardson’s sacking.

"It was a difficult afternoon for us," acknowledged Toure. "I feel like we started well, we put them under pressure and created chances we might have made more of.

"We should have been more aggressive with our chances, then our concentration let us down for the first goal. That put us under pressure, but to our credit we kept going, we kept pressing and created chances that we could have done better with.

"But offensively and defensively, at times, I felt we were too passive, with some of the actions, which we absolutely need to correct. We tried to be as positive as we could, and attack as much as we could.

"Obviously when you try to do that, you are going to leave space at the back for your opponents, which they took advantage of well. We continued to create chances, which we could have scored from, but we were unable to take advantage of them."

Wigan Athletic are currently in the relegation zone ahead of Sunderland’s visit to the DW Stadium this evening.

"The players are good, honest people, and they are giving me their best," he added. “They are giving me everything on the training ground and on a matchday, and I can't ask for more than that.

"In three days' time we are playing against another team (Sunderland), who will provide us with a different set of challenges.

"We will prepare for that as well as we can, and we'll be ready for that. This is a fantastic challenge for me...if you don't challenge yourself, you'll never know what you're capable of.

"I'm a guy who likes to challenge myself, and I'm very proud and very happy to do that. This is a great opportunity for me, but I'm up for it...I have no regrets, never."