JOHN Coleman admitted it was a tough day at the office after seeing Accrington Stanley's eight game unbeaten run ended following a high-scoring 4-3 defeat at Wigan Athletic.

The Reds run of form saw Coleman named League One manager of the month for November but, as is often the case, the award proved to be a curse as they slipped to defeat.

The home side raced into a three-goal lead inside 32 minutes thanks to goals from Tom James, Dan Gardner and a Will Keane penalty.

Joe Pritchard and Michael Nottingham reduced the arrears with 25 minutes still to play, before Ollie Crankshaw’s deflected effort made it 4-2.

There was still time for Cameron Burgess to ensure a nervy last four minutes with Stanley's third, but Wigan held on for a deserved three points.

“I’m not feeling too good, to be honest,” said Coleman. “What you’ve got to expect in football is it doesn’t always go your way.

“Wigan were better than us today, I won’t make any qualms about that.

“Sometimes the opposition team plays better than you, and there’s various reasons why that happens.

“One of the big reasons is the shot in the arm we gave them for the goals.

“We’ve given them a stupid goal for the first, and we seemed hell-bent on trying to better that, and be even more calamitous for the other goals.

“Wigan were good, they passed the ball well, but they had the shot of adrenalin courtesy of us.

“They score with their first attack, and that gives them a lift from then on.

“To be honest, 3-0 flattered us at half-time – it could easily have been five.

“We made a couple of changes at half-time, and it was no reflection on the lads who came off, because I could have taken anyone off, with the exception of Mark Hughes, who I thought was outstanding.

“We won the second half, which we wanted to do, to protect our goal difference.

“But I still don’t think we did enough to warrant anything out of the game.”

The victory took Wigan off the foot of the table and temporary manager Leam Richardson - a former Stanley player and boss - said it was a 'bonkers' game.

“I told the lads I wanted them to be fearless, but I think they took me a bit too literally today, with the goals we conceded,” said Richardson. “It was really a game of two halves, absolutely bonkers really.

“But we’re thankful to come out on the right side and we’ll enjoy the three points."