Stephens not happy despite late equaliser (From News Shopper)

Stephens not happy despite late equaliser

12:27pm Wednesday 1st February 2012 in Charlton Athletic By Sunni Upal

DALE Stephens may have been Charlton’s goal hero last night but he couldn’t hide his disappointment at the Addicks’ failure to beat Bury last night at The Valley.

The midfielder struck a 25-yard screamer deep into injury time to rescue a point and cancel out Lenell John-Lewis’ first half opener.

But despite the huge sense of relief around the stadium after Stephens’ dramatic late goal, the man himself was not happy afterwards.

He said: “From a selfish point of view I’m quite disappointed with tonight.

“I think we have to beat the lesser teams.

“We were unfortunate not to get a win but teams are going to come here and sit behind the ball but we have just got to be patient and hopefully we can break them down.

“It was a difficult game.

“We knew Bury were going to come here with a game plan and stick to it and they managed to get a goal and defended for their lives.

“I thought it was tough to break them down and eventually it took a good goal to do that.”

Last night was Stephens’ first start since recovering from an ankle injury.

The summer-signing originally picked up the injury playing for Southampton against Charlton last season before it flared up against Stevenage in October.

“I’m delighted to back,” Stephens said.

“I didn’t feel great after 20 minutes but I was glad to get through the game and come out unscathed."

Michael Morrison's initial effort was denied by Bury goalkeeper Cameron Belford but Stephens followed up with a scorching effort into the top corner to the delight of the Charlton crowd.

“I just tried to keep my head down and hit the target,” the goal saviour explained.

“Luckily for me it kept low and I knew that it had a chance of going in.”

And the midfield star believes his side has the depth of talent to achieve promotion this season.

Stephens said: “I was glad to see the boys do well and keep us on track for what we want to achieve this season.

“The players who came in in my position did well and we carried on winning games.

“I have been doing some hard work with the medical staff and the fitness team and I would like to thank them for that. I had my little daughter as well, which kept me busy.”

Elsewhere, Sheffield Wednesday were held to a 1-1 draw at MK Dons which means Charlton extended their lead to 10 points in League One.

“Other results have gone our way, but I think we have just got to look after ourselves,” added Stephens.

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