Wigan Athletic's poor recent form continued last weekend as they were comprehensively beaten 3-0 at home to Brentford contributing to their run of four games without a win. 

With the international break this weekend, manager Paul Cook will be reflecting on some poor recent performances which has seen his side drop down the Championship table in recent weeks and he'll be demanding more from his players in the upcoming fixtures.

Cook's side face Stoke in their next fixture and he will be well aware that a poor result could drag his side closer to the relegation zone and a negative result could see Stoke close the gap on Wigan to one point.

Here are three major headaches Cook will have at Wigan this week.

Loss to Brentford

Paul Cook admitted that his side were poor against Brentford and said it was one of his most difficult afternoons as Wigan boss.

Wigan rarely threatened Brentford throughout the match and the visitors were clinical, putting three past David Marshall.

Cook admitted that the Latics were second best throughout the afternoon and will be determined to work on his side during this weekend's break with the hope of returning to form with a positive results against Stoke.

Dip in form

Wigan have struggled in their last four fixtures and have only earned one point from a possible 12, the 2-2 draw away to Bristol.

This recent run has seen them fall down the table to 20th and just two points off 22nd placed Middlesbrough in the relegation zone.

Prior to these four games, Wigan had been on a fairly good run, picking up good wins against Nottingham Forest, Birmingham and Charlton within five games.

Cook will be using the international break to work on improving the form of his side in the upcoming fixture against Stoke next weekend.

Lack of goalscorer

Wigan have the joint worst goalscoring record in the league this season and have failed to score in eight Championship matches.

Centre back Chris Dunkley has found the net five times for the Latics and is the club's top goalscorer of the campaign while Wigan's remaining goals have been shared across eight different goalscorers.

Strikers Joe Garner and Kieffer Moore have led the line on different occasions in Cook's preferred 4-2-3-1 system, but have little return with just one goal between them this season.

If Wigan's goalscoring problems continues, Cook will surely be looking at signing a new striker to compete up front during the January transfer window.