David Artell says Town must be better after the Mariners were held to a 2-2 draw by Accrington Stanley at the Wham Stadium on Tuesday night.
Town raced into a two-goal lead in east Lancashire, with an own goal from Joe Anderson putting the Mariners ahead before Andy Cook doubled the advantage seven minutes before half-time.
Accrington pulled one back from the penalty spot deep into first-half stoppage time before Tyler Walton levelled the scores shortly after the hour mark. Town had chances to win it late on, with Cook hitting the post before being denied by a superb save from Louie Moulden with the final kick of the game.
Artell was left frustrated by the result, believing his side had done enough during the opening stages to establish a commanding lead.
Here’s everything the Head Coach had to say after the game…
On the overall performance
Artell felt Town were the better side for much of the first half, but believes the Mariners failed to maintain their standards after the break.
“I thought for the first half an hour we were much the better team. Deserved to be at least two in front.
It was a tale of two penalties. Their penalty is a stonewall penalty, absolutely no problem with that.
The fact that their keeper commits assault and Iwan’s got stud marks all the way down his hip and his chest and his thigh and doesn’t get a penalty and a red card is a disgrace.
I don’t want to talk about the ref, but there’s nobody else literally in the half who’s got to see that. It’s actually ridiculous. Those two things have changed the game.
We couldn’t then, second half, play anywhere near as well as we should do. We’ve conceded another poor goal. We’ve got to be much better in possession. We didn’t do enough. We didn’t do enough. We didn’t control the game.
The lads are disappointed in there for sure, and so they should be. Because that game was there for us to win and we haven’t done that.”
On whether it feels like two points dropped
For Artell, there was little doubt that Town had missed an opportunity to take all three points.
“Yeah, 100%. There’s no getting around that fact. Like I said, we should have been three-nil up at half-time and we end up two-one up.
Then second half, yes, we’ve had lots of chances to score. Don’t get me wrong. Probably the man of the match is their keeper, which is ironic given the fact that he should have been off the pitch. But we still got to do more. We’ve still got to do much, much more.
The first time we played any football in the second half was about seven or eight minutes in and we created a great chance for ourselves. It’s like, come on, that’s it. That’s what we’ve spoke about. That’s what we’ve worked on. You’ve got to do that more and more and more.
I’m not happy with the point at Accrington. Yes, it’s a tough place to come. Yes, it is. We spoke about their character and culture, and you saw that in abundance with them. They’re good.
But come on, we’ve got to be so much better than what we were tonight because the game was there for us to win. And we end up not winning the game, and that’s bitterly disappointing for me.”
On Christy Pym
Pym was replaced at half-time by Seb Auton after picking up a knock late in the opening 45 minutes. Artell says the goalkeeper will be assessed over the coming days.
“He got a knock on his thigh. I think it might just be a dead leg, but we’ll see.
It might be something a bit more sinister, but yeah, we’ll see in the next sort of 24-48 hours.”
On Seb Auton’s performance
Auton was introduced for his second-half debut and made an important save to deny Shaun Whalley. Artell was pleased with the goalkeeper’s contribution.
“He was fine. He was competent. He’s everything you want of him, really. He didn’t have that much to do. He’s made a good save from Shaun Whalley’s header.
Can’t do anything with their goal. He’s done fine.”
On Andy Cook
Cook scored for the second successive game, taking his tally to two goals in two matches. Artell was pleased with the striker’s performance but believes he could have added to his tally.
“Yeah, I thought he was good. He should have had more. But he’s there to miss them, and that’s what, you know, we’ve got to create more.
We didn’t create enough. We didn’t create enough good chances, not just for him, for all the players, whether that’s the eights, the wide forwards, whatever it is. We’ve got to do so much more.
I can’t tell you how disappointed I am tonight.”
Cook hit the post in the second half before being denied by Moulden with the final action of the game.
On the new signings
Ryley Reynolds, Iwan Morgan and Sonny Finch all made their full Town debuts at the Wham Stadium, with Artell encouraged by their performances.
“I thought they were all very bright. I thought they were very good. Obviously, Iwan hasn’t played much football in pre-season, so we’re going to be a bit careful.
Ryley’s a little bit different, and I thought he was very good. And then Sonny’s had some really good chances, got into some really good positions, and showed that he has had more minutes.
So, they’ve all got a bright future at this football club, but we’ve still got work to do with them, of course. But I thought they made a really good first impression.”
Artell confirmed that Morgan was withdrawn because of cramp rather than an injury.
“No, he just cramped. Just tired.”
On Mark Shelton
Town completed the signing of Mark Shelton on a season-long loan from York City on deadline day, with Artell delighted to finally get the deal over the line.
“We’ve been after him for a while, and it’s not been an easy one to do. It’s felt like for the last sort of whatever, two, three, four weeks that it’s on and then off and on and off.
Obviously, he’s with us now, and we’re delighted to have acquired his services. We think he’s going to be a really important piece for us.
He’s itching to get going and play some games of football because he hasn’t played for a while, and we look forward to seeing him in training first.”
Artell believes Shelton’s reliability and ability to knit a team together will be particularly valuable to Town.
“He was in a very, very good Barnet team last year. Played virtually every game. He was, for me, their glue, if you like. Super reliable. That’s what we want. We want that reliability, that glue, if you like, that knits and keeps everything together.
“And I think he’ll provide that.”
On Finlay Cartwright
Town also completed a season-long loan deal for Middlesbrough midfielder Finlay Cartwright on deadline day. Artell says the 19-year-old has impressed him with his ability and creativity.
“Yeah, he’s a really bright footballer. He was here today with his dad and, yeah, a real bright footballer. Picks up real good pockets, real creative. A talented, talented lad with a bright future.”
Artell accepts that Cartwright will need time to adapt to regular senior football but believes his pre-season experience with Middlesbrough means he is well prepared for the challenge.
“Yes, this is his first taste and we’ve got to accept that it might be a bit blood and thunder for him and all the rest of it.
But he’s played virtually every pre-season game for Middlesbrough’s first team against some real top teams from abroad and at home, and done ever so well in them. And he’s here because they’ve brought in, like, a £4 million and I think a £6 million player in front of him.
So, he’s coming here to get some minutes and some game time, and he’s another one that we’re really looking forward to working with.”
On the end of deadline day
With the clock ticking towards the end of the transfer window, Artell was asked whether Town would make any further additions.
His response was characteristically succinct.
“I’m going home.”
On what needs to improve
Despite the frustration of dropping two points, Artell believes the performance in the opening stages demonstrated what Town are capable of. The challenge now is to maintain those standards for longer.
“We’ve got to be so much better than what we were tonight. The game was there for us to win. We’ve got to do more. We’ve got to create more. We’ve got to control the game. And that’s what we’ll keep working on.”
You can watch David’s full post-match interview here:
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