Wigan Athletic boss Malky Mackay wants his side to bounce back from their 3-0 drubbing by Nottingham Forest when they take on Reading on Tuesday.
The Latics fell to their 16th defeat of the season at the City Ground last week, a result that left them nine points from safety in the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone.But Mackay is hoping for an instant response from his squad, and said performance levels must improve if they are to get a result against the Royals.
“The players want to pick themselves up after the disappointment from Nottingham Forest last week," he told Wigan's official website.
"That was one of very few games whereby the performance wasn’t at the standard it should be at. Over the time I’ve been here a lot of our games have been close, but with the Forest game the players know they needed to work harder, they’re desperate to improve from that performance.
“The boys have been working extremely hard, but it was an off-night for a lot of people and that’s something the players will own up to.
“We need to be mentally prepared as well, and it’s about instilling confidence into the players that they can go out there and beat teams, whether that’s home or away.”
While Wigan are battling in the bottom three, Reading sit 16th, seven points above the drop zone.