COLEY BACKS HIS EAGER ACCY ACES
Bishop & Charles impress manager
ACCRINGTON Stanley manager John Coleman has praised the impact of rookie EFL strikers Colby Bishop and Dion Charles – and reckons there’s a lot more to come from them.
Bishop, 22, gave up his job as a primary school PE teacher when he made the move from National League North side Leamington for an undisclosed fee in the summer, while Charles, 23, arrived from another Step 2 outfit, Southport, in mid-August.
With Stanley stalwart Billy Kee on the sidelines as he battles to overcome depression, anxiety and bulimia, it’s meant that Bishop and Charles have had to step up to the plate.
Creditable
Target man Bishop has already notched four goals this season, while Charles notched his third of the campaign in Tuesday’s creditable 1-1 draw at high-flying Wycombe.
It seems the forwards are eager to grab their fresh chance in the Football League. Bishop,
below, started out with Notts County before spells in NonLeague with Worcester, Boston and Leamington.
Charles was on Blackpool’s books as a youngster and has also spent time at Fleetwood. In Non-League, the former Northern Ireland U21 international featured for the likes of AFC Fylde, FC Halifax and Southport.
After the midweek game, Coleman told The FLP: “They both started off in league football and then drifted out of it, so it’s pleasing they’ve had the chance to make the transition again.
“Both of them are only going to get better as the season goes on, they get used to how we play and the physical demands of full-time football.
“They’ll only improve but it’s a blow that it looks like Colby’s going to be out for a bit now with an ankle injury.”
Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth was also fulsome in his praise of the hard-working strikers after they gave his defenders a tough time.
“I like Bishop, he’s a great player,” he said. “I think he’s going to be a handful at this level, Charles as well – there’s two diamonds there.”
It hasn’t been an easy start to the season for Accrington. Heading into yesterday’s home game against Blackpool, they were 20th in the table, just above the relegation zone having won only one of their opening eight fixtures.
But the experienced Coleman believes there are reasons to be positive as his new recruits gel with the existing Wham Stadium players.
“We’ve had a lot of change, we’ve got a lot of young lads,” he said. “They’re very inexperienced but I think they’re taking to it well.
Diamonds
“We haven’t got the greatest facilities. (Oxford manager) Karl Robinson kindly lent us their training ground yesterday (before the Wycombe game) and when you see that and compare it to ours, it’s Premier League and Non-League. But the lads don’t complain, they just get on with the job and we play good football.” And Coleman is confident he’s got the right troops to go into battle against the third tier’s big guns. “We’ve got great lads with a great appetite for football,” he added. “It’s pleasing to go into work when you can be around them and feed off their energy. “We’d have been disappointed with a draw the way we played against Sunderland (in last week’s 3-1 home defeat) and they’re being lauded as one of the best teams in the division.
“It’s up to how much we believe in ourselves, we’ve got good players. We’ve got to take that next step, we’ve got to get a clean sheet. Once we get that, we’ll go places.”
Ainsworth, for one, is convinced they will climb.
“I think they’re in a false position,” he said. “They’ve got some good players and John will get them sorted and up the league.”
Both of them are only going to get better as the season goes on and they get used to how we play John Coleman