Coleman picks the positives from draw at Charlton

Accrington Stanley manager John Coleman praised his side despite a 1-1 draw at Charlton.

A Shaun Whalley header was cancelled out by a superb effort from Steven Sessegnon for the hosts, to keep Accrington in the relegation fight.

The Lancashire side have yet to record a win on the road since Cambridge United last November.

For Coleman though, the effort shown by his side gives him hope in the crucial stage of the campaign.

He said: “We’ve come here and we’re disappointed with the draw.

“We took the game to them in the second half, they had a good chance near the end but we’ve made two great chances.

“We were pretty much in control in the first half, but Sessegnon has scored a class goal.

“I’m so proud of how we played today, that’s probably the best we’ve played certainly for a long time.

“We passed the ball a lot better, and we can still do better. But we showed great energy, we’ve had a long week.

“We had a great desire to win, and we were back to making chances. That’s us, and when we get like that we’re good. We’ve just got to hope we can take that with us.”

Charlton had early chances through Corey Blackett-Taylor, firstly putting his eighth-minute run wide, then forcing Mo Sangare to clear off his own post five minutes later.

Accrington took the lead when Whalley was left unmarked in the area to head home but the hosts equalised with a stunning 35-yard effort from Sessegnon – their first goal since Valentine’s Day.

The visitors had the better second-half chances, most notably when keeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer stopped Whalley and Aaron Pressley in quick succession.

Substitute Matt Lowe saw his effort turned away off the line by George Dobson on 79 minutes, while visiting keeper Toby Savin blocked the onrushing Daniel Kanu in time added on.

Charlton manager Dean Holden signed a contract extension until 2026 before the game, and was disappointed at going behind.

He said: “I thought we started the game quite brightly. The goal was a cheap one to give away, really. We get pulled apart in the box, and it’s too easy. Defensively it’s a really poor goal from our point of view.

“Sessegnon’s worldie gets us back. I think we looked a bit shell-shocked from their goal.

“His strike out of nowhere gives us a little bit more confidence and gets us back into the game.

“In the second half it was very stop-start. It was difficult to keep the ball rolling, there were a lot of throw-ins.

“We rallied towards the end but we needed a way of getting onto the end of things.”