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ACCRINGTON Stanley manager John Coleman aired his frustrations about the decision to send off Sean McConville within five minutes of coming on as he broke Andy Procter’s record of 308 appearances for
Stanley in Saturday’s 0-0 draw away to Lincoln City.
Despite that, he showed empathy towards the decisions that referees must make in a game that he felt they should have won if they are to meet their own expectations.
He said: “It did change the game [the red card], for sure, there was only one team in it at the time. We had a great chance at the start of the game and then Lincoln for 20 minutes were good. We wrestled control back, changed our shape a little bit, forced them back, we made a couple of good chances just before half-time – Joe Pritchard should score - and then we’ve missed a couple.
“We bring Sean on, his creativity trying to win the game, it’s a milestone for Sean himself equalling Proccy’s record,” Coleman continued.
“He sticks his leg out trying to control the ball, the lad dives in with his head, no contact made, borderline [as] to whether it’s a foul or not, the ref pulls out a red and then you’re backs to the walls for the last 25 minutes.
“They [referees] have to make a call. You don’t get a lot of time, it’s not like it goes to Stockley Park here and sometimes they get it wrong. As much as it hurts, sometimes you just have to accept they get it wrong like we get it wrong.
“I feel for Sean, to battle back for so long – nine or 10 months now – of soulsearching work on his own, building himself up, travelling to two away games and not getting on. He gets a chance; he’s chomping at the bit and he gets the rug pulled from under him.
He said: “It’s hard when you have to run, chase and harry for half an hour with 10 men but that shows you the character of our players. We dug in and I thought a point was the minimum we deserved.
“I know people think we haven’t got expectations, well you know me and everyone else knows me, and I have got high expectations don’t worry about that. If we want to go where we want to be, we really should be winning these games when we’ve had control of the game for a good hour.”
‘Sometimes you have to accept they get it wrong like we get it wrong’’