New Charlton head coach Appleton expecting his side to ‘dominate the ball’

Michael Appleton has talked about the importance of his Charlton Athletic players being “brave” in next Saturday’s League One fixture at Stevenage – his first match as head coach of the South London club.

The former Oxford United, Lincoln City and Blackpool boss was appointed to the SE7 post on Friday.

Appleton took training on Friday and will be prepping them next week for the match at Stevenage, who went top of the League One table after a 2-2 draw with Carlisle yesterday.

The fact Charlton did not play their match at Wigan, which was postponed due to international call ups, allowed Appleton to go and watch Steve Evans’ team.

“Simple messaging is going to be really important,” Appleton told Charlton’s official website, when asked how the build-up to Stevenage will look. “It is hard to hit the ground running sometimes but that’s what everybody looks to do, coming into a place for the first time.

“Be brave. But probably more than ever make sure when we go into a game no-one outworks us or has more energy and athleticism. It is something I do believe we’re capable of doing.

“I need us, and want us, to be much better at set-plays in both boxes. We need to be more aggressive.

“Out of possession and on the turnover we need to be a little cuter and more organised. That will almost give us the starting block to move things forward and move them quickly. I’ve always had a brand of football I like to think gets people out of seats. I want to be a possession-based team without the amount of passes some teams do when they call themselves a possession-based team.

“I don’t want to get 700-800 passes a game. I want us to dominate the ball but do it the right way – always looking forward and be brave – getting in behind opposition. I’ve got a team who are athletic enough to do that.”