Charlton Athletic manager Nigel Adkins has a way he wants his team to play – and outlines what that is

Nigel Adkins wants his Charlton Athletic team to dominate possession – but felt AFC Wimbledon deserved plenty of praise for the way they prevented them doing that in today’s 2-2 draw at Plough Lane.

The Addicks twice led through Jayden Stockley and Diallang Jaiyesimi goals but Ryan Longman’s brace deservedly secured the home side a share of the spoils.

Adkins was only appointed as Charlton’s new manager on Thursday and the League One fixture was his first chance to see his new players in action.

Asked if he had a fixed style of play he wanted to introduce, Adkins replied: “Yes, I do. We have a ‘game A’ but you have to be adaptable as well. You’ve got to react to how the game is going, the scoreline and what the opposition is doing.

“I like to dominate the ball, if we can. They went to a diamond and by doing that they had more players in the middle of the pitch, where we had a two. So they are going to get more passes in.

“We’ve changed to a three and lost Conor [Washington] straight away – so you go back to Johnnie Jackson in understanding what players we have got. I don’t think DJ has had much of a run so far but he is an out and out right winger. How many times has Chrissy Gunter had that in front of him this year? They linked up quite well.

“Their holding midfielders were getting far too much ball. The attacking midfield of the diamond, he is giving the centre-halves a bit of a problem – so you’ve got to try and nullify their threats so you can get on the football yourself and have a bit more opportunity to play.

“First half was okay. A bit too frantic for us. But we’ll hopefully get in a position where we can be calmer and get more sustained pressure with the football.

“You’re never going to get a perfect game. You’ve got to give Wimbledon a lot of credit. Their recent run of form, a new manager has come in and they’ve been very hard to beat. They were very spirited and played some good football. It probably made for a good game of football. You’ve got no divine right to win games. You’ve got to earn that right.”

PHOTOS: KEITH GILLARD AND PAUL EDWARDS