Charlton boss Michael Appleton pleased with comeback draw against Blackpool

Posted Sunday, October 08, 2023 by PA

Charlton head coach Michael Appleton praised the character of his side as they came back to draw 2-2 against Blackpool.

The south London outfit looked out of the game with 10 minutes to go, but two goals in as many minutes earned a point.

Although Charlton were unable to make it four wins in a row at the Valley, Appleton was pleased with the comeback.

He said: “I’m really happy with the response the players showed, they created lots of chances in the game.

“We don’t want to get used to coming from behind, but the one thing I did say when I came here was to hopefully improve the mentality – the never-say-die spirit.

“The fans have seen enough in the team at the minute that they’re giving everything. We’ll make mistakes and concede goals at times, but you’ve seen today they’re willing to have a right go.

“I think we could have won it if it went another five minutes, even before we scored we created a lot of chances in that second half.

“We had two sides, one side really wanted to win and the other had moments in the game, and I knew that would be the case.”

It looked to be a fine away performance from Blackpool, who took the lead after 34 minutes. James Husband crossed into the middle of the area for Jordan Rhodes to connect first time past keeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer.

The spoils looked to be heading back to Lancashire when substitute Karamoko Dembele stole the ball from defender Michael Hector to rifle home on 70 minutes.

However, Charlton stunned them with two goals in under 120 seconds. Firstly, Chuks Aneke found space to square for Alfie May to divert home on 82 minutes.

Then Corey Blackett-Taylor sent the Valley into raptures with a superb curled effort.

Visiting head coach Neil Critchley was left to bemoan the lack of discipline from his side.

He said: “We should have won that, without a doubt. At 2-0 you could say it was a perfect away performance. We’d restricted them to very little in the game.

“When you score the second goal you should see the game out. It was a couple of moments of madness that have cost us.

“There is a frustrated group of players in the dressing room, and a frustrated group of staff.

“The first Charlton goal is the one for me. We shouldn’t get counter-attacked when we’re 2-0 up. We lost the ball in a stupid position on the pitch.”