More to come from frontman Dion
ACCRINGTON Stanley striker Dion Charles is going from strength to strength during his time at the Wham Stadium, and he insists he is only just getting started.
Charles joined the Reds in the summer from non-league side Southport, and has hit the ground running with the Reds, scoring five league goals during that time.
He now hopes to continue that form over the Christmas period, starting with Stanley’s trip to the Keepmoat Stadium to face Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.
“My body has adapted quite well to the change, as it can be quite hard and demanding at times,” he told the club’s official website. “I knew when I came here that I had to get used to it quickly if I want to go far in the game.
“I like to score goals myself, but if you can’t score goals then it’s always good to provide the assists for other players in the team.
“I work hard every game and if I can’t score, then I always like to think I can provide good opportunities for the other lads.
“I can play in a number of positions, both up front and out wide and playing with different people is good for me.
“We’re all very good players here and it helps if you can adapt and make partnerships with every player.
“If you’re thinking positive and you’re doing well in training all the time, then it starts brushing off and you get good habits.
“We’re doing it on match days as well now which is massive for us going ahead into the Christmas period.
“My main focus is ultimately to perform well on the day and hopefully grab a goal or an assist for the team, and that’ll hopefully mean we clinch the three points.
“If you get a few good results during the festive period then you can fly up the table, and who knows what happens after that.
“We’ve got to take it a game at a time as at the minute we’re doing very well, but we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves.”
ACCRINGTON Stanley picked up one of their biggest wins of the season after an emphatic victory over Portsmouth at the Wham Stadium.
Two goals from Colby Bishop, along with a Dion Charles strike and a Ellis Harrison own goal earned the Reds the win, despite it being 1-1 at half-time after Portsmouth netted through Ronan Curtis.
Stanley boss John Coleman was thrilled with the effort from his side, and hailed his goalkeeper Joe Bursik in particular for his performance during the game.
“A big difference was at 1-1 our goalkeeper has made an unbelievable save and that gives everyone a lift. If that goes in then we’re 2-1 down and head’s do go down as it’s human nature, so Joe has to get big credit for that save,” he said.
“He’s been knocking on the door for a while, to be honest.
“He did really well on Tuesday and
Dimitar Evtimov has just been coming into a decent bit of form himself.
“He was picked because we thought that the wind was going to have a part to play and his kicking is very good, that was the main reason but he’s a good goalkeeper too obviously.
“Colby Bishop and Dion Charles scored, and I know the two of them are only going to get better.
“I’ve worked with them the last couple of weeks by sitting them down talking to them and showing them clips, asking their opinion and having a good discussion.
“It’s not just me telling them what to do.
“It’s a guided discovery and I really enjoy that, especially with the strikers, and sitting down with the both of them highlights what they can do better and what they are doing well.
It’s pleasing when it comes off and they get the goals.”
It was Portsmouth who took the lead in the match, with Curtis getting the opening goal of the game just after the half hour mark. Marcus Harness sent a cross into the box which was met by Curtis, as he headed home via the inside of the post to make it 1-0 on 35 minutes.
It looked like Portsmouth would carry that lead into the interval, but Stanley equalised on 44 minutes. Joe
Pritchard’s corner was headed into his own net by Harrison, making it 1-1 at half-time.
The second half then belonged completely to Accrington, beginning when they made it 2-1 on the stroke of the hour. Jerome Opoku found Charles in the box, who took it past an opposition defender before firing through goalkeeper Craig Macgilvary’s legs to find the net on 62 minutes.
It got even better for Accrington, when they got a third on 69 minutes. Sam Finley’s initial shot was saved, but Bishop was on hand to fire home the rebound.
Bishop then put the finishing touches on the win on 77 minutes when he received the ball from Jordan Clark, firing home to make the final score 4-1, much to the delight of the Reds fans.