KEITH Curle was satisfied with another clean sheet but felt too many of his forward players were “on the periphery” as they were held to a 0-0 draw at fellow strugglers Carlisle United.

The teams went into the game separated by one place and one goal, with Latics above the relegation zone on goal difference.

As with their previous away game at Mansfield, the game was dubbed an early season six-pointer because of the importance of a win to both teams in their battle at the bottom of League Two.

But while Curle was encouraged by the way his players responded to a 3-1 defeat against Walsall in midweek to keep Carlisle at bay, he was frustrated by a lack of attacking intent.

“As a foundation if you don’t win you don’t get beat,” said the Latics head coach.

“Five clean sheets out of seven games so from that point of view a credible point away from home.

“In possession we need to be so much better. Moving the ball, the willing runners and movement off the ball and giving the person on the ball options, and then the quality in the final third that we need to hone in, then also then getting in the box because we have too many people that want to play on the periphery and get involved in the build-up play, but then the end result is we don’t have enough people in the box.

“Sometimes it’s one of those, land on it, get it out wide, get it in the box and have that desire.

“Sometimes if you don’t get there you put somebody off that’s in there and you get a ricochet or a bobble just because of your willingness to get in there.

“At the minute, we’ve got too many people involved in the build-up, not the end product.”

Latics did have the ball in the net, when Davis Keillor-Dunn struck the woodwork and Jamie Bowden converted the rebound, but the flag was raised for offside - wrongly in Curle’s view, but the head coach accepted it was an honest mistake and refused to berate the officials.

“I think he (the linesman) had seen little Harry Vaughan in the line of the goalkeeper. I think he’s flagged him but the ball didn’t bounce back to him, the ball bounced back to Jamie Bowden and he’s put the ball in and he started in an onside position,” Curle explained.

"Ultimately that's a critical moment in the game.

“He got it wrong, but they’re human. They make honest decisions and I really believe that.”