Martinez unhappy with showing

Martinez unhappy with showing

Published Apr. 8, 2013 7:15 a.m. ET

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez was relieved after his side's late draw at Queens Park Rangers but conceded it was his side's worst performance of the season.

Shaun Maloney's superb last-gasp free-kick earned Wigan a dramatic draw after Loic Remy's wonder-goal looked to have won the three points for ten-man QPR after Bobby Zamora was sent off in the first half for a high challenge on Jordi Gomez.

Despite playing against ten men for 70 minutes, Martinez admitted it was a point gained, although he was disappointed with his side's showing.

"It's a great point because we were 1-0 down and a late goal like that is a point gained, there's no two ways about it," Martinez told Sky Sports HD1.

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"But overall we were very poor and I think that's the worst performance we've had this season in an attacking sense. We were cagey."

Martinez felt the sending off of Zamora actually worked against his side as they struggled to make any inroads against the ten men.

"If anything the sending-off went against us. We are a team that enjoy having the ball and we can open teams up but we made it a hard task," he added.

"From the best chance of the game - James McArthur's header with a great response from Julio Cesar - we got a free-kick outside the box and to concede from open play, I know it was a golden strike, a golden goal, but we are disappointed with that.

"But it's about the character and how you are going to react to that disappointment and that goal is an incredible feeling.

"The players know that they haven't done things as well as they should have done but that result is very, very important.

"We are a team that concentrate on ourselves and what we do with the ball but today for some reason the tension and the meaning of the game got the best of us.

"I must admit the sending-off gives an opportunity for the home side to be the underdogs and the crowd were magnificent with them so we were cagey.

"All of a sudden we allowed ourselves to be frustrated and that's the worst thing in football.

"In football you can win, lose or draw but you have to be yourself and impose yourself but we couldn't do it."

Martinez backed referee Phil Dowd's decision to hand Zamora a straight red card for his dangerous challenge on Gomez

"It was a horrific challenge," continued Martinez. "I know Bobby Zamora is not a dirty player but Jordi Gomez is very fortunate - he could have been majorly injured.

"It was the right decision. As much as you don't want to see red cards, that was as much a red card as you are going to see."

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