Micky Mellon has called for Latics to show more of a ruthless streak in front of goal following their narrow defeat at Radcliffe.

Mellon opted to field two strikers against the new National League North side, with Alex Reid partnering Mike Fondop in attack.

Fondop had a good chance to put Latics in front after latching onto Harry Charsley’s clever pass but the forward failed to hit the target.

He also had a header deflected wide after combining with Reagan Ogle, who saw a shot of his own saved by Mateusz Hewelt.

Radcliffe took the lead 10 minutes before the break after Matt Hudson had tipped over Matt Sargent’s strike. Tom Walker’s resulting corner was turned into his own net by Fondop.

Latics nearly got back on level terms when Manny Monthe broke into the box and delivered a dangerous cross, but nobody could get on the end of it.

Monthe continued to cause problems in the second half and had a header saved by Hewelt.

A number of changes were made, including the addition of a couple of trialists, but Latics struggled to carve out opportunities in search of an equaliser.

Radcliffe forced Hudson into another save before Jamie Morgan went close after finding a pocket of space in the box.

Fondop had one last opening in the final stages after using his strength to hold off a defender but his strike was held by Hewelt.

“We tried something a bit different with two frontmen,” said Mellon. “We probably should have scored twice but we lacked that wee bit of oomph and urgency.

“We lost a poor goal from a set play. It is pre-season but we definitely want to be better than that. We want a bit more intensity, guile and fight.

“The second half just turned into a bit of a passing exercise, we weren’t showing any cutting edge until maybe Jes (Uchegbulam) came on.

“We are working towards the first game of the season and there is plenty to think about. I expected us to come here and do better to be honest, I thought we would do more.

“It is about learning, fitness and all the rest of it but we want to get results, we know we need to do better.”