Steve Bruce, the Wigan Athletic manager, will hold talks with Titus Bramble in a bid to repair the defender’s battered confidence. Bramble was blamed for Wigan’s defeat by Everton last weekend after his blunder presented Andrew Johnson with the first goal.

The error was a throwback to the kind of gaffe that marred the centre back’s five-year spell at Newcastle United before his summer transfer to the JJB Stadium.

Bruce has backed the 26-year-old to overcome the incident, but the manager warned Bramble that he must learn to concentrate if he is to avoid the criticism that followed Sunday’s performance. “Titus has had to cope with this sort of thing before and he is strong mentally, which he needs to be,” Bruce said. “All players make mistakes, but it is how they respond which matters. Unfairly for Titus, the mistakes he makes do get highlighted a lot more than some other players.

“He obviously felt the brunt of it when he was at Newcastle - there is no hiding place there. In fact, there is no hiding place anymore in the Premier League, with all the exposure it gets. I will have a chat with him later this week to see how he is. I’m sure no one is more disappointed than Titus about what happened.”

Bruce set his targets for the club’s last 15 matches. “I think we need another 16 points, taking us up to 36 points,” he said. “It’s a case of keeping your nerve, but we are capable of getting the points we need.”