John Coleman backs Accrington’s two-goal hero Josh Andrews to improve

Posted Sunday, October 08, 2023 by PA

John Coleman praised his two-goal striker Josh Andrews and says he will get better after Accrington’s 2-1 win over bottom club Forest Green.

The on-loan Birmingham striker headed home in each half as Stanley ended a thee-match winless run.

Mathew Stevens pulled a late goal back for Rovers, who slipped to the foot of the division after a sixth straight defeat.

Stanley boss Coleman said: “I was hoping Josh would get his hat-trick.

“He is a smashing lad and he knows he can get better. You can see the signs, his hold-up play and link-up play was good in the first half. It’s just about being less wasteful as a team.

“But I am delighted with the win. In patches I was delighted with the way we played, but I hated the way we finished the game.

“We ended up with the perception that you are hanging on, even though our keeper didn’t have a save to make, when it should have been out of sight in the first half.

“That’s something we have to learn our lessons from as we have been punished in the past.

“When we are on top, we have to take the game to the opposition but we tried to amble through it.

“We saw in patches how good we can be, there were some great passing moves, and then in patches how naive we can be, we lost possession cheaply and we were wasteful.”

Rovers head coach David Horseman was frustrated with his team’s performance in their latest defeat.

“This is the first time I have felt let down by the players,” he said.

“It was nowhere near good enough and as a group collectively we have to take some responsibility.

“We conceded from a set play – they all knew their roles but they did not do their jobs. The ball goes into the box and it’s four v one and he heads it in. That’s really disappointing.

“In the second half, we start to get on top, we brought on a couple of subs, and we then we concede again from a set play.

“Winning games gives you confidence, doing your job gives you confidence, but all of us didn’t do it today.

“It’s frustrating as even as poorly as we played, with the chances we have had, we still could have got a point or even nicked a win.”