MICHAEL Appleton felt Charlton could easily have gone on to win today’s game with Blackpool after fighting back from 2-0 down to rescue a point at The Valley.
The Addicks appeared to be heading for a first defeat under their new boss against one of his former clubs, after goals either side of half-time from Jordan Rhodes and Karamoko Dembele seemingly put the Tangerines in command.
However, Alfie May halved the deficit on 81 minutes before Corey Blackett-Taylor restored parity just two minutes later to set up a Grandstand finish.
And Appleton is convinced his team could easily have claimed all three points, even if he accepted a share of the spoils looked unlikely once Dembele struck in the 70th minute.
“Absolutely, yeah,” he told Charlton TV when asked if there was only going to be one winner once it went to 2-2.
“I thought we were good in the second half, certainly.
“Even before the scored the second goal, I thought the likes of Chuks Aneke, Alfie (May) and Corey (Blackett-Taylor) all had big moments and it was a matter of time.
“But obviously they get that second goal, which takes the wind out of you a little bit.
“The players kept pressing forward. We had to take risks, we had to throw bodies forward, we had to make the substitutions because that is what happens when you are down in games. Luckily for us we got rewarded with the two goals.
“I’m obviously going to be biased but I still believe that we didn’t get quite what we deserved today, but certainly after 70 minutes we will take what we’ve got.”
Neither set of fans may have been satisfied with a point in the end for various reasons, with Blackpool probably seeing at as two points dropped having been in the driving seat and Charlton regretting not finding a last-gasp winner.
But at least the 2-2 draw extends Appleton’s undefeated start in SE7, with the news boss reflecting both teams at least did England’s third tier proud.
“It was obviously a great advert for League One,” he said.
“In terms of the whole game, without looking at the stats properly, I felt we were the team that wanted to win the game.
“They had moments in the game because of how they are set up – they are structurally really sound and organised.
“I’m delighted with the response that the players have shown but before the second goal, albeit a mistake – there were lots of opportunities there that we sort of didn’t take – so I felt even when we went 2-0 down, I was trying to get the message on to the players there is still plenty of time.
“One goal can change the complexion of the game and that’s what happened.”
