Appleton considers the first defeat for Charlton.
As his club was defeated 3-1 by Lincoln City at the LNER Stadium on Tuesday night, Michael Appleton was dissatisfied with his team’s effort.
Just tonight, we didn’t give ourselves a chance. We didn’t challenge them sufficiently, he told CharltonTV. “And there’s only going to be one scenario that’s going to happen if you do that against a really physical side like Lincoln, and that’s what happened.”
Alfie May gave the Addicks the lead after just ten minutes, and the manager was pleased with the result. But he went on to say that after that, his players stopped following his instructions.
We got off to a good start, he continued, “playing the ball in behind and down the side of them.” “Then we were caught playing a little bit in their presence. During that second half of the first half, we lacked the necessary bravery. We were asking Ash [Maynard-Brewer] to take much too many goal kicks, and they were always just going straight into their massive center halves.
After Charlton fell down, Appleton also observed some players’ heads dipping: “Once the second goal went in, there were one or two players who looked like they really didn’t think they could get back in the game.” Since I haven’t yet witnessed that, I am at least aware of it this evening and I don’t want it to happen again.
The fact that this defeat should help his players maintain perspective was the most crucial positive the coach could take away from the evening.
He said, “These nights can sometimes be good for everyone because it definitely prevents people from getting carried away.”
The gaffer also found solace in the fact that some of the Addicks’ best games have occurred against major teams at home, especially with Bolton Wanderers coming to the Valley on Saturday.
“We’ve seen with the group that they are capable of winning those types of games,” he said. We’ve faced some respectable teams thus far, and if anything, the performance has become better as the club has grown.
It’s in the Valley, which has treated us well lately. There, we’ve put up a lot of goals while giving up few, so maybe that will continue on Saturday.
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