Accrington showed there is still life in their playoff push yet as they dominated Wigan

John Coleman’s Stanley put in a professional performance to revive their playoff hopes against a struggling Wigan.

The game started frantically with two goals in the opening two minutes as Callum Lang opened the scoring for the visitors before Cameron Burgess equalised.

Michael Nottingham then put the hosts in front ten minutes later before a second half penalty was ruthlessly dispatched by Dion Charles to seal the victory for Accrington.

Without a number of key men, the likes of Colby Bishop, Joe Pritchard and Paul Smyth, who pulled up late in the warm up pre-match, Wigan will have gone into the game confident of causing problems.

However, Accrington’s control of the midfield and build up play never waned and their professionalism and composure on the ball to ensure they continued to manufacture creative chances in their absence shone through.

Sean McConville was instrumental for Stanley as his set pieces produced two of the three goals for his side and every time there was a set piece in and around the area, you were expecting a quality delivery from the captain.

That drive and determination to succeed amid a number of key injury absences showed in their battling in midfield.

Wigan like to try and turn games into scraps in order to put themselves on more of a level playing field, but for the vast majority of this fixture, Funso Ojo and Lee Evans were nowhere to be seen in the midfield areas.

Matt Butcher was first to every ball and instilled a mentality throughout Stanley today that they were not going to be outmuscled in the tight areas and kept up a high tempo to ultimately dismantle Wigan.

The Latics showed signs of quality, particularly through Callum Lang who has been a key figure in their battle for survival amid uncertainty off the field.

Lang was isolated for most of the match but still worked tirelessly to close down opportunities and press high in order to try and force mistakes from Accrington, his opening goal coming through that kind of endeavour.

That being said, this was Accrington’s chance to show that they still had fight left in them when it came to the playoff push.

As John Coleman said in his pre-match programme notes, this is a season of overachievement for the club and if anyone were to look at the table now from pre-season they would think it was a successful campaign.

That speaks to the fantastic effort that has gone into this season and although it seemed to have filtered out in recent times, mainly due to fatigue and injury, they showed the hallmarks of the side that was so rampant in the early stages of the season.

What makes this victory even more important for Coleman’s side is that they did it without those key figures of the season.

Even Adam Phillips, who was a January arrival on loan from Burnley, did not start the match, it was each and every one of those 7/10 players that have allowed the key figures to thrive that showed their quality today.

David Morgan, battling in the heart of midfield but being intelligent with his play and spreading his passing range out wide in order to open up the pitch for the likes of Harvey Rodgers to exploit.

The back three that has served the hosts so well this campaign again evidenced their worth to the cause, not only in a disciplined defence sense, stifling Lang’s ability to create chances, but also in their long ball play that was well held from Dion Charles.

And as always, the killer blow came from that man Charles, his 17^th goal of the season, and one that struck of the confidence that he has in his abilities nowadays.

His penalty was powered down the middle of the goal and crossed the line before Jamie Jones even had a chance to react in the Wigan goal.

Accrington have stuck to what they know best and their fluid, effective system has been under threat in recent weeks, but in this 3-1 victory they showcased why they stand by their beliefs.

There are many teams making a play for the top six places in an increasingly tight League One table and Stanley have slipped off in the past couple of games, but you underestimate them at your peril.

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