John Coleman wants Accrington to start on the front foot - 7M sport

John Coleman wants Accrington to start on the front foot



Posted Sunday, August 26, 2018 by PA

John Coleman wants Accrington to start on the front foot

Accrington boss John Coleman has urged his players to be proactive rather than waiting to fall behind to really fire following their 1-1 draw at Blackpool.

Stanley salvaged a point at Bloomfield Road thanks to Mark Hughes’ equaliser three minutes into stoppage time following Nathan Delfouneso’s opener for the home side.

But Coleman was frustrated at his team’s inability to produce a 90-minute display, instead only finding their best form once they trailed.

He said: “The game’s boiled down to both teams having an excellent 15-minute spell and scoring at the end of it.

“They missed a couple of great chances and then bundled one over the line.

“We’ve spoken to the players at the end of the game about not needing the opposition to score to spark us into life.

“That was the case and as soon as they scored, we grasped the game and were comfortably the better side after that.

“I can be critical of my players because they know how high the standards are I set.

“The one thing I can’t criticise them for is their appetite, their heart or their attitude. Every week they show amazing character.

“Win, lose or draw they give it their all and I just need them to think a little bit more, that’s the one thing we’re lacking at the moment – our thought process.”

Both keepers had to be at their best, with Connor Ripley denying Delfouneso on three occasions, even if he could not stop the opening goal which came from close range after a looping Jordan Thompson cross.

Mark Howard was similarly impressive, including one great double save to deny Offrande Zanzala and Sean McConville, and Blackpool interim boss Terry McPhillips was frustrated that his team could not kill the game off when they had the chance.

He said: “I think we both feel we could have won it or lost it. A 1-1 draw is probably fair.

“At any level you need to score more than one when you’re on top, it’s disappointing.

“We feel sick in the dressing room, it feels like a loss. The players are deflated.

“We’ll have to dust ourselves down, there are a lot of positives to take from the game.

“We’re so disappointed with how late we conceded. Mark Howard’s made a great double save and Mark’s been brilliant with three clean sheets in the league so far.

“When asked upon he did his business, but at the end we came undone.

“We couldn’t finish them off and we were punished.

“We need to start playing better in the first half of games. Every time we tell the players at half-time that they need to play better, they do.”

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