Dean Holden: Stop-start nature of second half meant Charlton couldn’t build momentum against Accrington Stanley

Charlton boss Dean Holden said the “stop-start” nature of the second half during today’s 1-1 draw with Accrington Stanley saw his side struggle to build momentum.

The Addicks are five winless in League One following the 1-1 draw with relegation-threatened Stanley.

The hosts fell behind when Shaun Whalley headed home from close range. Sean Clare’s clearance had given possession straight to Stanley, with the resulting cross nodded into Whalley’s path.

Charlton forced a handful of early chances but were struggling to make any impact after Accy’s opener until Steven Sessegnon’s wonder strike levelled proceedings shortly before half-time.

The second-period saw Accrington come close to regaining their lead, only to be denied by some good shotstopping by Ashley Maynard-Brewer. Charlton did not create anything until deep into the seven minutes of added-time but were forced to settle for a point – certainly not deserving any more.

Holden, who signed a long-term deal with the club before kick-off, said: “We started the game quite brightly. Corey Blackett-Taylor was our main threat. First 20 minutes he got himself down that right-hand side and we were causing them problems. A couple of crosses and shots at goal, we hit the crossbar.

“The goal was a cheap one to give away. We were in control of the game. Accrington came to play for territory and long throws, to slow the game down. You have to find a way to overcome that. The goal, we were in comfortable possession on the halfway line and give a cheap one away. We have to regain it on our goal-line and we gave another cheap one away and got pulled apart in the box. It’s too easy to concede. It’s a really poor goal from our point of view.

“Sess’ worldy gets us back into it. We looked shellshocked by their goal. Sess’ strike, out of nowhere, gets us more confidence and back into the game.

“Second half, it was very stop-start. Difficult to keep the ball rolling. Lots of throw-ins, lots of injuries. We threw Daniel (Kanu) on, got him in behind as we wanted to for one moment but he couldn’t execute the lob over the goalkeeper. We rallied towards the end, but we need to find a way to get on the end of things in the box a bit better.”

PHOTOS: PAUL EDWARDS