Johnnie Jackson: Charlton were well in the game at Wigan but set-piece sloppiness cost us

BY LOUIS MENDEZ

Charlton manager Johnnie Jackson was forced to rue defensive errors as his side came away empty handed from the north west for the second time in four days.

The depleted Addicks, who were missing big hitters Conor Washington and Chuks Aneke through injury and had to do without Scott Fraser after a coronavirus diagnosis, took a surprise lead a high-flying Wigan Athletic. Elliot Lee headed home Adam Matthew’s peach of a cross on eight minutes to break the deadlock and it was nearly two soon after when Alex Gilbey rattled the crossbar.

But the ‘Tics grew back into it and were level midway through the first-half as Sean Clare tripped Callum Lang in the area – Will Keane scoring the resulting spot-kick.

The South Londoners kept their hosts at arm’s length for spells of the second-half but were once again caught out at a set-piece when substitute Stephen Humphrys was able to bundle a knockdown home.

They were also beaten but a set-play at Bolton on Tuesday and have now conceded four from dead ball situations in their last three outings.

Jackson said: “It’s really frustrating. It felt similar [to Tuesday]. I thought we played better today than we did Tuesday, created more chances and scored a brilliant goal. We hit the bar and had other opportunities to get shots off.

“We should have had a penalty for my money, as well. We’re doing a lot of the right things but we’re making silly, basic errors from set-piece situations which is something we spoke about a lot since the Wimbledon game and the Bolton game but it’s happening. Players are given a job to do in those situations – you have to carry it out. It comes down to personal responsibility to keep the ball out of your net.

“Close game. I thought that we were well in it. For long periods we were the better side. They had their moments too, but it was a really tight game. Again, decided by a set-play which is obviously disappointing. If a team is carving out chance after chance and cutting through you, stretching you, you take the defeat a bit easier I guess. But when it’s that tight and matches are being decided by little moments in our penalty box like that, it’s hard to take.”

Clare was the guilty party for the home side’s penalty but Jackson felt the Addicks should have had one of their own for a foul on defender Ryan Inniss when he went forward for a corner.

“It’s a penalty,” said Jackson.

“He pulls his shirt back. Ryan gets a run on him from the corner and it’s a blatant pull of the shirt. We should have had one there but we didn’t get it.

“I thought it was a penalty [for Wigan at the other end] but we could have got the challenge in outside the box. If you’re going to make a foul, or you intend to win the ball or make a foul, you need to do it outside the box. Once they’ve got you inside, you’re in trouble. There was an opportunity to make the tackle before the guy got into the penalty box. Once he was in there, it was probably a pen.”

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