John Doolan was pleased to see Jimmy Knowles open his Stanley account in the 4-1 defeat against Wigan at the Wham Stadium.

The Reds names two different sides for each half and got another good workout under their belts against League One opposition.

Joe Adams opened the scoring but Knowles got Stanley back on level terms after the break with a clinical finish past Andy Lonergan.

Wigan’s quality shone through in the final stages as Thelo Aasgaard bagged a brace either side of Dion Rankine’s close-range finish.

“Obviously coming up against a back three, a different system, they moved the ball quite well and got into little pockets to ask the centre-halves questions,” said Doolan.

“They were better than us in the first period but if we look at the last 20 minutes of the first half, I thought we played really well.

“We changed the team for the second half and I thought we started really well but sort of came off it at the end.

“You can tell the difference in quality in terms of the second period but I am really pleased for Jimmy getting off the mark, it was a great finish.

“There was some really good stuff from both periods to be pleased with and I am happy to get more game minutes into the lads’ legs.”

Knowles arrived at the Wham Stadium earlier this summer after catching the eye while playing for non-league side Boston United.

Doolan was impressed with the 22-year-old’s performance against the Latics and hopes his first goal will provide a platform to build on.

“It will be massive,” the boss continued. “Especially for the new lads coming in, you want them to get off the mark and Jimmy has done that now.

“He worked tirelessly in the second period. The result is irrelevant, you don’t want to concede goals like we did.

“But as I said, we tired in the second period and gave some of the younger lads minutes. We are now looking ahead to next week and full steam ahead to the Doncaster game.”