Wigan's players have pledged to refund the ticket price for any of the club's fans who attended their side's 9-1 thrashing at the hands of Tottenham at White Hart Lane yesterday,

It was the heaviest defeat in Wigan's 31-year history in league football and saw Spurs equal a Premier League scoring record for a single match. Jermain Defoe tied the record of five goals for a player when he put his fifth past Chris Kirkland, including the second-fastest hat-trick in Premier League history. The result also left Wigan with the worst goal difference in the Premier League.

"The club have announced that the players of Wigan Athletic have decided to personally refund every Latics fan who bought a ticket from the DW Stadium ticket office for the match against Tottenham Hotspur," a statement read.

The club captain, Mario Melchiot, insisted that the team will be able to respond to the defeat, but said the fans "must not be taken for granted. We feel that as a group of players we badly let down our supporters yesterday, and this is a gesture we have to make and pay them back for their tremendous loyalty.

"There is not a lot else to say, just that as a group of professionals we were embarrassed by the way we performed, we feel it was below our standards and this is something we feel we owe to the fans. Now we have to draw a line under the game, focus completely on training this week and bounce back on Saturday.

"We are professionals, we will take it on the chin and move on but it's important that we do not take our supporters for granted."

This article has been amended since it was first published