Coleman praises Zanzala for his part in Accrington victory

Posted Sunday, October 14, 2018 by PA

John Coleman praised striker Offrande Zanzala who has hit a rich vein of form for Stanley and scored in their 3-1 win over Bradford.

The Congolese frontman has scored four in four games and is delighting his manager.

“I don’t think Ozzy has ever been as confident as he is at the moment,” said Coleman.

“He can be a handful for any defence in his league and he takes on board what we say to him and the way he plays.

“We do have a really strong squad here, it’s difficult to pick the bench, never mind the 11, but we are up into the play-off positions and, like last year, we will give it our best shot.

“It was my birthday on Friday and I remember around this time 10 years ago we played Bradford and we were 2-0 up with 10 minutes to go and we ended up losing 3-2.

“I feared the worst when they got one back but we remained on the front foot and got the third. It was an acceptable performance but we know we can do better. We had a bit of luck with the swirling wind, it made it hard for both teams, but we are obviously delighted with the win.”

Billy Kee opened the scoring for Stanley from the penalty spot – his sixth goal of the season – after 39 minutes before Zanzala made it two with 54 minutes gone.

Eoin Doyle belted the ball home for Bradford after 62 minutes but Sean McConville (66) finished well to give Stanley the win to move them into the play-off places.

Bradford boss David Hopkin kept his team in the dressing room for around 40 minutes after the final whistle as they fell to their 10th loss in 14 League One games.

He was furious with referee Kevin Johnson’s decision for the penalty – Ryan McGowan was judged to have handled the ball in the area under a challenge from Zanzala but Hopkin felt the striker pushed his defender.

“I don’t know how he gave that, the assistant at the far side appeared to give it and he was the furthest away,” said Hopkin, who picked up a yellow card for protesting.

“We will contest the decision, it changes your half-time team talk as you think you are going in at 0-0 and there wasn’t a lot in the game, and it’s suddenly 1-0 to the home team to a poor decision.

“But we are making too many mistakes. We let their lad through one on one for the second and then we get a goal back but then we make a mistake again and they get the third.

“It’s schoolboy errors, standing off players, we are too nice. We need some leadership, players who will compete. We have a lot of young players and we need leadership and players taking responsibility. I am not taking it any more.”