Martinez says everyone must stick together to pull through tough times
Speaking after Latics' tough 1-0 defeat to Birmingham City, Roberto Martinez was again left frustrated by refereeing decisions, believing the result to be typical of the way things are going at the moment.
A dubious penalty decision and a reckless challenge that went unpunished went against the away-side in a game the gaffer feels could quite easily have gone either way:
"The penalty decision and the challenge by Liam Ridgewell on James McCarthy are there for everyone to see," said Martinez.
"Overall, though, we must focus on our own performances.
"In the first half, we worked extremely hard but we just weren't good enough and we weren't ourselves.
"We played with our hearts rather than our heads, but our link-up play and our threat up front was very little.
"In the second half, we got the right reaction and we had a proper desire and a determination about us.
"We forced many corners and we created one golden chance, and made Birmingham put a number of bodies behind the ball.
"The second-half performance was the way we have to keep performing, and we also have to hope that we will start to get some decisions going our way.
"It is a tough one to take, because I thought the first half was very even and there was not much between the two sides.
"We received a big blow at a key moment right on half-time, but I think everyone could see we were the better side in the second half.
"To come away with nothing reflects the way it is going or us at the moment.
"But now is the time to get together as a football club - the players, the staff, the directors and the fans - and pickup that extra five per cent and work harder to turn it around."
Birmingham's penalty on the stroke of half-time really did change the whole face of the game, and the gaffer believes that had the scores stayed level heading into the break his side would have been in a position to take something from the encounter.
"When you are playing away from home and not playing as well as you can, you don't want to get hurt.
"You want to get in at half-time with a clean sheet and be able to regroup.
"I don't think Birmingham did enough to have opened up a one-goal lead at half-time.
"The penalty was not a penalty and that is there for everyone to see. There was not enough contact to give a penalty and, after that, it's an uphill battle.
"But I was very pleased with the reaction, and the understanding of what was needed in the second half.
"We finished the game strongly and if you were a neutral I don't think you could have argued that a draw was the fairest result because there was nothing in it first half, and we were the better side in the second.
"We need to make sure that we carry on with our level of performance and making sure we go into games being ourselves and not playing with our hearts instead of our heads.
"If you do that, the job becomes a lot harder. But the situation remains the same, and everything is still in our hands.
"We have allowed ourselves to drop into a difficult position in the table but it is time now to work hard and get the results that our performances deserve.
"It is down to everyone to pull together and ensure we are a stronger football club for the period. We have done it before and we'll do it again."
