“WE didn’t deserve anything” – that was the damning verdict of Richie Wellens who admitted the 2-0 defeat at Southend was, for the first time in his embryonic tenure, a bad day at the office.

Latics never really hit the heights in this one, despite decent chances that went begging, including a Craig Davies spot-kick which was saved on the stroke of half-time.

Wellens said: “It was a disappointing day. On the whole, we didn’t deserve anything.

“In the first five minutes, Southend couldn’t get out of their own half. Maybe the players thought it was going to be too easy.

“We passed the ball well, Eoin Doyle had a couple of shots in the first five minutes, but from then on, Southend put the ball in the channels, went long, won second balls and we didn’t compete well enough.

“We didn’t deal with their threat. There were too many times when we ended up slowing down to let them bank up against us.

“We’ve still had chances to win the game – Doyle hit the post with a header – but in all honesty, it’s the first time where I’ve felt we haven’t deserved anything out of the game.”

The Shrimpers took the lead through a questionable Jason Demetriou penalty on 17 minutes, from which Athletic never really recovered – even after being gifted one of their own as the interval approached.

“I didn’t think anyone appealed for their penalty – it seemed like a blocked shot,” added Wellens, after Cameron Dummigan was adjudged to have fouled Josh Wright.

“Then again, I didn’t think ours was a penalty either," said Wellens after Demetriou ran into Rob Hunt.

“The difference was, they took their lucky chance and we didn’t.”

Wellens felt his troops’ creative side went missing at times, lacking in ideas and failing to hurt the opposition in the right areas.

He said: “We didn’t mix it up enough today and didn’t earn the right to play.

“Teams are going to press us now because they know we can play. What we have to do is put balls down the side – exactly what they did to us – in areas where their defenders don’t like it."

Southend effectively put the game to bed when Wright tapped home from close range following a flowing move down the left.

“I just thought their players did the ugly side of the game much better than us," said Wellens.

“We’ve been nowhere near our best. We would have created a lot more chances if somebody runs for someone else to get the chance.

“With all due respect to Anton Ferdinand and Michael Turner in their back line – we’re playing everything in front of them, everything was comfortable – long, straight balls. We didn’t hurt them.

“We weren’t on it today. But we have to reflect on how far we’ve come and the strides we’ve made. Coming here and expecting to win says a lot.”