Manager Roberto Martinez admits he was tested by Wigan's FA Cup exit to League Two Notts County but will not over-react.

The Spaniard kept his squad in the dressing room for the best part of an hour after the 2-0 midweek defeat.

Although he refused to reveal what was said to the players, he believes he got his point across and expects to see a response when they come up against former Latics boss Steve Bruce at Sunderland on Saturday.

"Everyone wants to know what happens and what was the reaction," said Martinez, who lists Johan Cruyff, John Toshack (at Real Sociedad), and former Italy coach Arrigo Sacchi as his inspirations in management.

"It goes down to the moment. Whatever the reaction is it has to be natural.

"I think if you get someone who is trying to play a role it doesn't get the same effect.

"When you are natural sometimes you have to shout, sometimes you have to be calmer - it depends on the situation.

"I could have shouted but as a manager you probably learn more from the bad managers than the good ones because the things you shouldn't do in a dressing room have a massive impact.

"It is quite clear here we are a group of responsible people who need to learn from the mistakes and the things we are not doing well.

"How you do that depends, as different players need different treatment and different approaches."

Martinez has found himself having to pick up his side on a number of occasions this season, having been hammered 9-1 at Tottenham, lost 5-0 twice to Manchester United and been beaten 4-0 at bottom side Portsmouth.

However, despite the regular knock-backs he believes the squad are growing as a unit.

"We have the right characters and when you have that it gives you a chance to react in the right manner," he said.

"We have had real lows and disappointments this season and we have always reacted in the right way.

"We have that feeling we can't wait to get on the pitch again.

"It has been a tough 14 days because we had a very good performance at Wolves (a 2-0 win), we felt we should have had more out of the second half against Blackburn (2-1 defeat) and the Everton game (1-0 loss) was very harsh on us.

"It turned out to be a really tough day against Notts County.

"You feel nothing is going your way and we are in one of those periods.

"But we need to make sure we don't drop our standards. The players have a responsibility to change things around."