Accrington boss John Coleman says Sunderland 'battered' Stanley in pre-season friendly

Alex Neil’s side opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time when Jack Clarke was fouled in the penalty area and Ross Stewart converted the subsequent spot kick.

The hosts drew level just after the hour mark when Bailey Wright conceded a penalty and Sean McConville sent Anthony Patterson the wrong way, before substitute Kodede Adedoyin made it 2-1.

"They squandered a couple of opportunities but they ran all over us, we couldn't get the ball off them for big parts, and if someone had told me that that wouldn't carry on in the second half I would have been delighted because our players would have improved their game - and they did improve their game. They defended better, they handled the ball better, and they made themselves back to what they were in the first 15 minutes.

"For the first 15 minutes at the start of the game we were excellent. Coyley [Liam Coyle] was jumping all over them, taking the ball off them for fun, but then they got a foothold in the game and battered us. In the second half it was a lot more even. They didn't threaten us like they had in the first half and we gained the upper hand and could have scored more.”

Of Adedoyin, he added: "He took his goal well, he should have scored another one, and everyone tells me he should have had a penalty. We looked more of a threat in the second half."