Boss furious at Portman Road lapse
ACCRINGTON Stanley boss John Coleman apologised to the Reds supporters after his side suffered an emphatic 4-1 defeat at Ipswich Town last weekend.
Goals from former Stanley player Kayden Jackson, James Norwood, Alan Judge and Will Keane condemned Accrington to defeat, despite a late penalty from Offrande Zanzala.
Coleman was furious with his team for their efforts, and personally apologised to the Stanley fans who made the trip to Portman Road to see the match.
“I’d just like to apologise to our fans who came. I thought we were absolutely diabolical in the first half,” he said.
“There’s no excuse for a lacklustre performance. We showed no energy, no fight, Ipswich wiped the floor with us. We didn’t pass, we didn’t close down, we didn’t challenge, we looked devoid of ideas, we were awful.
“I’m in charge of the team so I have to take the blame. We were a bit better in the second half. Even at 2-0 we could have gone in and regrouped for the second half but we gave them another one.
“We made a game of it in the second half, we pinned them back but it could have been six or seven in the first half.
“You have to take your hat off to Ipswich, they were very good.”
The defeat has left Accrington in 17th place in the League
One table, having won seven, drawn eight and lost ten of their 25 games so far this season, while Ipswich are in third position after the big win, two points off the automatic spots.
Stanley will now look to put a run of two straight defeats behind them when they welcome Southend United to the Wham Stadium on Saturday.
Southend have struggled so far this season, sitting second bottom after winning just one of their 25 games so far this season. If not for Bolton’s points deduction, Southend would be rock bottom on 10 points, with the team also drawing seven and losing 17 games during the campaign.
They head into the match with Accrington on the back of three straight draws, with the most recent of those coming on Saturday when they were held to a goalless draw at home to Tranmere Rovers.
Stanley will be hoping for a similar result to when they went up against Southend earlier in the season, picking up a
1-0 away win on that occasion. Colby Bishop got the only goal of the game just after half-time, ensuring that his side earned all three points at Roots Hall.
This weekend’s match marks a busy few days for Stanley, as on Tuesday they then head to League Two side Salford CIty in the quarter-final of the EFL Trophy.