FRANKIE Bunn admitted he was far from happy with the performance in the 1-1 draw at Forest Green but was encouraged by the way his young side dug in to take a point after falling behind in the first half.

The Latics boss was again without Peter Clarke, who he revealed following the final whistle, now has a knee injury after recovering from illness.

The forward duo of Ishmael Miller and Sam Surridge, who started against MK Dons last week, were also ruled out. Both have tight hamstrings.

Gevaro Nepomuceno and Chris O’Grady came in as Bunn switched to a 4-5-1 formation.

The manager said: “Gone are the days where we can go and get an Eoin Doyle. We have not got the financial resources to go and do that.

“The finances aren’t there so we’re scanning for young talent and a mixture of experienced players to help them along the way.

“This is what we’ve got, this is where we are going to go and we’ve got to build for the future.

“We only had one available frontman today in Chris O’Grady. Jonathan Benteke could have played off him, but Giles Coke played off him and OK, it didn’t work out.

“O’Grady is an unselfish player and perhaps doesn’t get the credit he deserves for what he does. Experience counts, especially when you’re surrounded with a lot of youngsters.

“Jose Baxter – who isn’t fit – came on and showed little bits. Has he got quality? Yes he has, everyone can see that, but he’s way off starting.

“Miller and Surridge have tight hamstrings and this is where we are.

“When everybody is fit, people like Clarke and Andy Taylor will strengthen things up and allow players to operate in their normal positions.

“Clarke is now suffering with a sore knee. Miller and Surridge haven’t trained all week. I’m not sure if they will be ready for Tuesday’s League Cup tie with Derby but I should think by Saturday they will stand a better chance.

“The disappointing thing for me was the performance. We weren’t quite there, certainly in the first half.

“We dug in after half time and had a go. The spirit and determination was there – yes we have made errors, some of the younger players made mistakes with things like letting the ball bounce and such – but we kept going, which is what you need in this league.

“People have to be patient. We are starting afresh here. You can see from that team – there were five academy players in that squad and that’s where we are at the minute.”

Not one to single out individuals as a general rule, Bunn did reserve praise for goalkeeper Daniel Iversen. The big Dane, on loan from Leicester, kept Athletic in the game with a series of spectacular stops in a man-of-the-match performance.

Bunn added: “I don’t like to do this but I must say Daniel stepped up to the plate today. He made some terrific saves for us and I’m sure the defenders were thankful for that. Equally though, there will be times when he’s thanking the back line.”