Charlton Athletic boss delighted his side eventually went to-to-toe with a top Peterborough United team

Instead Posh battled their way to a 2-1 win to make 10 games without a success for the Addicks.

Posh dominated a first period when Charlton didn’t muster a single shot at goal, but the second-half was more of a contest with the home side forcing some desperate defending by Darren Ferguson’s side.

Appleton, whose side were booed off at half-time, told Londonnewsonline,co.uk: “It was a frustrating first-half. We were a bit tentative and showed them too much respect which wasn’t the gameplan.

"Putting and extra striker on for the second-half certainly helped us. We got closer to their two baseline midfielders and played higher up the pitch and we were outstanding at times.

“That second-half performance would have beaten 90 per cent of the teams in this league, but we came up against a really top side and we went toe to toe with them while creating many opportunities. A little bit better finishing, better timing of pass or composure and it could have been a different story.

“It suited us to pass the ball forward a little bit earlier. That was my frustration at half-time. We weren’t making runs without the ball in the first-half. There were too many players coming towards the ball to receive it. We got that in the second-half.

“That helped us and made them defend desperately at times, they had to defend desperate at times. That made the atmosphere what it was in he second-half.

“The booing doesn’t affect me. I was just as frustrated as the fans. There’s no point me coming in and booing the players in the dressing room. I’ve got to find ways of picking them up and improving them. A tweak to the system helped that. The way the players came off the bench was good. That was something I’d been reasonably critical of in the last eight to 10 games.”

Charlton are 13th in League One just seven points clear of the relegation zone.