Lee Johnson's first game in charge of his new club ended in defeat, after his Sunderland side lost 1-0 to bottom of the league Wigan Athletic.

19-year-old Kyle Joseph's strike early in the first half was enough to give The Latics all three points at the Stadium of Light.

Here are the most important responses that The Black Cats boss made to the media:

Johnson's honeymoon period did not last long

Lee Johnson said his honeymoon period as Sunderland head coach "lasted 15 minutes," as he decided to take charge of the side today, despite only signing his contract this morning.

"I think my honeymoon period lasted 15 minutes - I’ll start from the start.

"Four hours into my reign, I really wanted to take the game today. I’m pleased I did because the learning process is really important.

"Not only am I learning about the players, I’m also learning about the staff and the feel of things.

“I did feel it was a little bit quiet in and around the place, and I wasn’t sure whether that was because it’s a manager’s day one.

"It’s my job to promote an element of creativity and not have personality suppressed.

"Obviously, this is a very big club and that comes with heavy scrutiny on everybody.

"I feel like I’m big enough and ugly enough to cope with that over the long term, and step by step, keep progressing."

Poor crossing one of the main reasons for defeat

Johnson was able to see on the sidelines where his team was going wrong in the game - and it determined to address them in training.

"I thought the first ten or 15 minutes was good in terms of what I asked them to do, which was have an attitude to play forward quicker, play forward run forward and break lines with their passing.

“I want them to receive well between the lines, but then have the attitude to turn.

"I feel we crossed the ball from poor areas too early and effectively let the opposition off the hook too many times.

"I thought the boys tried to implement the high press that we asked them to do, and that was a prerequisite as we came in to the job.

“That’s something that’s got to improve and continue to improve, and that will come from the structures of training and then the lads executing on the pitch."

Talk on the new formation

Johnson changed from Sunderland's usual 5-3-2 formation to a 4-3-3, in an attempt to have more of an attacking presence in the final third.

The former Bristol City boss wondered whether the lack of goals this afternoon was down his new players not been fully drilled on the formation.

“We definitely need to go back onto the training ground and work on movement in the box.

“We’re looking for players to get across the near post to disrupt the opposition back four, and then we need more bodies in the box.

"We were playing a 4-3-3 today to start with, and that should enable you to get at least four into the box, sometimes five.

“I just think at times, whether through a lack of understanding or cohesion, we didn’t get enough numbers into the box and also didn’t get enough quality, dynamic movement.”

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