Inigo Calderon has confessed that the way his Bristol Rovers side started their 2-0 away defeat at Wigan Athletic “was not acceptable” as the Gas fell behind after just six minutes.

Joe Hungbo won and took a free-kick from the right-hand side for the hosts which was headed home by James Carragher, adding to the extensive list of set-piece goals conceded by Rovers this season.

However, the Gas started to grow into the game and saw two decent chances fall to Gatlin O’Donkor up front before the half-time whistle.

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The striker then had a golden opportunity to equalise in the second half, striking too close to Sam Tickle in the Wigan goal from close range following a corner routine.

Rovers then pressed the self-destruct button as a poor moment for both Josh Griffiths and Connor Taylor led to substitute Jonny Smith being allowed acres of space in the penalty area to shoot and score the Latics’ second, arguably against the run of play.

Despite keeping 64 per cent of the possession, the Gas managed just five shots, half of Wigan’s total who nearly added a third late on.

Reflecting on the game, Calderon said post-match: “Well we came late to the game. The way we started the game was not acceptable. The situation we are in, we cannot start the game like that and I don't know if we think we are safe because we are not at all and we are gonna be there for a long time. That's not being pessimistic. I've been trying to say that for a long time since I came here. Even if we win, we are gonna stay there for a long time.

“So I think that was not a good start. I was quite clear because after you have to chase the game and that’s not easy when you are not in your best moment.”

Following back-to-back wins in League One over Cambridge United and Barnsley, there had been an improved mood around the club ahead of Saturday’s clash with Wigan. However, the defeat has brought them slightly back down to Earth.

“Yeah. I mean, the fans, I hope they are positive and they want to think that we are better than we are,” the Gas head coach added. “It's good because then you don't have a bad week but the reality for us is that we have to know where we are. We are in a bad situation and it is gonna be that way for a while.

“I mean, we say one month, two months, hopefully. But it's not gonna be easy. When you are there, it's really, really difficult and you have to do a lot of things right. I would say you have to do more things right than usual, as I said at the beginning, because when you are in that, you have to do more things just in case something happens and obviously we didn't do it today. So that’s why we lost.”

Although Rovers were passive for large spells with the ball, their best opportunities of the afternoon fell to O’Donkor who had scored his first goal in almost four months last weekend against Barnsley.

The 20-year-old battled hard and caused the Wigan defence issues but, at times, looked isolated up top with Chris Martin coming on late.

Asked if he agreed that his striker looked lonely up top, Calderon admitted: “Yeah probably. When you try to build and you try to draw players, he probably was a bit alone. Yeah, I agree with that.

“At the same time we have chances and as I say, it's not unlucky, not lucky. I don't think we wanted it that much today.

“As I said the other day, we created less than the opposition but for me, we wanted it more than the opposition and today I think we were a bit second best and after it's difficult. So we have to improve and the good thing is we have a game on Tuesday.”

The Gas are still sat in 18th place with a seven point advantage over the bottom four and have an opportunity to quickly respond with a trip to Charlton Athletic on Tuesday night before hosting fellow strugglers Peterborough United next Sunday.

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