Interim manager David Dunn felt his side needed to be better on the ball to earn all three points against Port Vale last night.
Michael Higdon had given Latics the lead 10 minutes before half time but Uche Ikpeazu levelled the scores in the second half.
However, in an honest post match interview, the gaffer praised his side’s work ethic but felt they needed to be more confident in possession.
He said: “I thought we might have held on a little bit towards the end. It wasn’t a great goal from our point of view to give away but I don’t think it was a great spectacle. We are miles better than that, we can perform much better.
“Port Vale have been on some decent form as of late but I don’t want to come out here and make that excuse or try and put a positive spin on it. I’ve always said to myself that I would be as honest as I can be and for whatever reason, I think we have to be braver in possession. We are better in possession than what we showed tonight and we’ll work on this at the back end of this week.
"I want to dictate possession more than what we are doing. One thing you cannot criticise tonight is the work ethic the lads put in. They run their socks off, run themselves into the ground but I was a little bit disappointed with the performance with the ball.”
Dunn switched formations midway through the first half and put two in attack and he was happy with both his striking options.
"I was pleased with Dom and he worked hard. He was unlucky at times not to get a goal but I think we’ve got to give the two up top a better chance,” Dunn admitted.
"I was pleased with Higgy. Even though he is a big lad, he’s got better quality than us just shelling it up top to him. He is competing with balls around his shoulder and head but he is a better than that and we need to start getting the ball down on the floor a bit.
"Our main job after the 5-1 defeat the other week was to make us more solid. I think we are now more solid but I think we may have gone the other way now where we need to work on the other side of the game because we’ve got to be better than that on the ball.”
Latics face a long trip to Gillingham on Saturday and the 35-year-old said: "It is important we stay positive as a squad and club. We have got a lot of good things going on so lets stay positive.
"I’m probably a bit fed up of keep hearing all the negative stuff. There is nothing to be negative about. We are at the end of September but we are certainly showing signs of progression, however, we have got to be much better on the ball and when that comes, we will be okay.”
Watch the full interview on Latics PlayerHD.