Charlton Athletic manager defends his player against allegations of violent conduct

Nathan Thompson of Peterborough United in action with Corey Blackett-Taylor of Charlton Athletic. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

Charlton Athletic manager Dean Holden claimed his player Jes Rak-Sakyi ‘reacted naturally’ to being stamped on in Tuesday’s night’s controversial incident at Peterborough United.

Posh boss Darren Ferguson was fuming Rak-Saki wasn’t sent off after appearing to charge at, and punch, Josh Knight. The Posh defender was sent off for his part in the incident.

Fergie’s fury

The caution means that referee Andrew Kitchen saw the incident and retrospective punishment cannot be applied, but Charlton failed to take advantage of their extra man as the match petered out into a 0-0 draw.

Peterborough United manager Darren Ferguson shakes hands with Charlton Athletic manager Dean Holden ahead of kick-off. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

Holden told London News online: “I didn’t see it live. I’m not giving it the Arsene Wenger. I didn’t see it at the time. The fourth official had already told me their player was getting a red and ours was getting a yellow. At that point I’m in with my coaching staff about how we’ll approach it in a gameplan.

“I have seen one angle now. Jes told me he just shrugged him off him. It looked like he swung something, but Jes is saying he swung a forearm to push him away from him. He’s gone on the floor, four days after the weekend where he nearly got his leg broken, and he’s been stamped on.

“We want our players to be law abiding at all times, but after being stamped on it’s difficult to keep your cool. If you’re stamped on, you want someone to get away from you. It’s a natural reaction.”

The stalemate means Charlton have now gone nearly six hours without scoring and three games without a win in League One.

“We started the game excellently,” added Holden. “We came with a gameplan. We got so many more final-third entries. We got runners in behind. We got into some really good areas. We delivered some good ball, but just couldn’t get on the end of anything.

“We were excellent at the start of the second-half. We got on the front foot for 10 minutes or so. but then they got the red card and the game changed in how they then approach it. The spaces to run into weren’t there once. You’re playing for 35 minutes against 10 men and you’re looking for moments of quality.

“But we’ve played a lot worse than that and won.”

Charlton are 13th in League One, 10 points behind eighth-placed Posh having played a game more.