Wigan Athletic boss Roberto Martinez was happy to see his players clashing with eachother on Saturday.

Emmerson Boyce and James McArthur had to be separated by captain Gary Caldwell after an altercation on the field in the 4-0 home defeat by Liverpool.

"If I'm honest I was glad to see that because the position we are in we need passion," said the Spaniard, whose side will drop back into the bottom three if Aston Villa manage a point at home to Manchester City on Monday night.

"We cannot have players who accept defeat and go through the motions," he added.

"It was a moment of frustration between the players who had the feeling we had thrown away the opportunity to win three points and the reaction from James and Emmerson is something I want to see in the dressing room.

"I think they were demanding a little more from each other and then it became a little argument.

"If everyone could have that passion in the dressing room we would have been a lot more competitive than we were in the first 20 minutes."