John Coleman credits Accrington’s defence for bouncing back at Gillingham - 7M sport

John Coleman credits Accrington’s defence for bouncing back at Gillingham



Posted Wednesday, December 16, 2020 by PA

John Coleman credits Accrington’s defence for bouncing back at Gillingham

Accrington boss John Coleman believes his side’s impenetrable defence deserve the credit for getting them back on track with a 2-0 win at Gillingham.

Accrington suffered their first Sky Bet League One defeat since mid-October when they lost 4-3 at Wigan on Saturday but tightened up at the back to repeatedly deny the Gills.

At the other end, Colby Bishop’s free header just before half-time and Dion Charles slotting in midway through the second half made it six Stanley wins in their last nine league games.

“The clean sheet impressed me the most,” said Coleman. “There was that joke on Sky years ago about bouncebackability – well, we let ourselves down at Wigan on Saturday as we had a major hand in their goals.

“It was important that we got back on track. We defended properly and despite all their pressure, there weren’t many clear-cut chances. On another day, I think we could have scored a couple more, too.

“Gillingham put the ball into the box whenever they got the chance but our lads cleared everything and they deserve full credit for that.”

Chelsea loanee goalkeeper Nathan Baxter was given his league debut between the sticks for Accrington and helped maintain the clean sheet with a brilliant one-on-one save from John Akinde just before Accrington got their second.

“I thought he did very well,” Coleman said of the 22-year-old. “He was very calm and assured.

“It’s a different game from playing in the EFL Trophy. Whichever goalkeeper I play now I’m confident that they’ll deliver outstanding performances.”

Gills boss Steve Evans was left frustrated by manner of the goals his side let in but also singled out strikers Vadaine Oliver and Akinde for missing gilt-edged chances in the second half.

“We’re hurting. No team in League One should concede the goals that we conceded,” explained Evans. “We can’t give somebody a free header like we did for their first, then we can’t not mark the man for their second.

“I wasn’t pleased with the first half; it was scrappy and the system didn’t work. I’m not going to complain about the second half as we shouldn’t lose the game but they scored two goals and we didn’t.

“I can look at my strikers because we missed good chances at 1-0 – these weren’t half-chances and they were with Oliver and Akinde, our two main strikers.”

Dominic Samuel was carried off the pitch on a stretcher midway through the first half with a serious-looking injury and Evans offered a post-match update on the forward.

“It looks like it’s a soft tissue injury,” he added. “We’ve got too many of those so we need to look at what the medical guys are saying to us and what they’re telling us to implement.”

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