Wigan boss Kolo Toure bemoaned the 'harsh' penalty decision which saw Sunderland retake the lead at the DW Stadium - insisting the Black Cats do not need any 'help'. Sunderland ran out 4-1 winners against Toure's Latics after the sides went in level at the break when Ellis Simms' opener had been cancelled out by Will Keane.
Wigan had a chance to take the lead just before the hour when only a brilliant challenge from Luke O'Nien denied Callum Lang inside the box. But shortly before the midway point of the second half, a foul by Tom Naylor on sub Patrick Roberts gave fellow sub Ross Stewart the chance to put the Black Cats in front for a second time, and the Scotland international kept a cool head to notch his eighth goal of the season, before Roberts and Amad added further goals late in the game.
"I thought it was a tough result, because the boys gave everything again," said Toure, who has picked up just a single point from his four games in charge of Wigan. "We started the game well, and managed to come back after the disappointment of conceding the first goal.
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"In the second half, we managed to put them under pressure, and we could have gone 2-1 in front, if Callum [Lang] had squared the ball across goal. Unfortunately that didn't happen, and after the penalty it was tough for us.
"The penalty, in my opinion, was harsh, and I don't think a team like Sunderland needed those kinds of decisions to help them. After that we are chasing the game, and you have to react to that.
"We want to keep attacking and score, and when you're playing against a Sunderland side with so many attacking options, you are risking being punished."
It was a second 4-1 defeat in the space of four days for Wigan, who had also been beaten heavily at Middlesbrough on Boxing Day, and with Huddersfield winning against Rotherham last night it meant that the Latics replaced the Terriers at the foot of the table. Toure said: "I feel they [against Sunderland and Middlesbrough] have been two scorelines that didn't reflect the games we played.
"Conceding goals of course isn't great. But trying to score goals when you are losing is part of the game, you have to go for it.
"We are not a team that, when you are losing a game, you just try to defend. We want to come back in games, but when you do that, you can lose 4-1 - and that is very tough to take."
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