Charlton head coach Michael Appleton wants to add more savviness to his squad in the January transfer window after they let more points slip through their fingers in Saturday’s 1-1 draw against managerless Burton.

The Addicks have drawn the joint most matches in League One, with five of their eight draws coming during their current seven-game unbeaten run.

Lloyd Jones headed Charlton in front from Michael Hector’s cross – the centre-back’s first goal since he joined on a free transfer after leaving Cambridge – in the 19th minute.

But the Addicks failed to kill the contest off and were made to pay in the first minute of second-half stoppage time with Ryan Sweeney slotting past Ashley Maynard-Brewer after a Joe Powell free-kick dropped kindly for him in the penalty area.

Appleton said: “It was difficult to take because I didn’t see them scoring – at all.

“It’s just experience (in terms of players he wants in the window). They bring an understanding of situations in games. We’ve got a corner with 88, 89 or 90 minutes on the clock and we’re still putting the ball into the box as if it is almost an embarrassment to play it short – take 60 seconds off the clock.

“The teams that win on a regular basis and are successful do those type of things on a regular basis and the make sure they win those games 1-0. We’re just not there at that point.

“It comes down unfortunately to a lack of experience. Whether you have got a number 10, a number six or a number eight, the reality is whether they are very much attack-minded they have got an awareness and can manage those moments better than maybe one of the young players would do.

“We don’t look like conceding goals, we just are conceding goals at poor moments at the minute. Ash (Maynard-Brewer) isn’t having to make save after save after save. We’re not having things cleared off the line.”

Burton had been on a run of five straight league defeats before Sweeney’s late leveller.

It was a first point on the board for caretaker boss Gary Mills, and he said: “We started brightly and we had a chance after about 15 or 20 minutes from a corner, I don’t know how it didn’t go in.

“Three or four minutes later they score a goal from a second phase, we’re disappointed with that. Between then and half-time it rocked us a little bit. We had a little chat at half-time and tactically changed a few things and we were good value.

“Joe’s quality (from deadballs) is very good. His left foot is as good as you get in League One. It’s all about timing and arriving in the box – we do work on it. With Powelly’s delivery you’d be mad not to.

“It’s a huge confidence boost for us. The performance was good and I don’t think the result was against the run of play. Second half we had a real good go and we attacked in numbers.

“You’d never believe he (Sweeney) was a big, ugly centre-half who heads it and kicks it. He showed good composure.”

Reading manager Ruben Selles praised the “power” of winger Femi Azeez after he opened the scoring in an impressive 2-0 Sky Bet League One home victory over Wigan.

Azeez, 22, gave Reading an interval lead with an unstoppable 20-yard drive and Sam Smith doubled the advantage five minutes after the break.

Wigan offered little going forward in either half, with Reading comfortably seeing the game out to move up two places in the division and just one point from safety.

After the 3-2 defeat at Shrewsbury on November 11, Selles’ side sat bottom of the table and were 10 points adrift of retaining their third-tier status.

“Our experience with players like Femi, they just need to grow into the game and find a way to crack the code,” Selles said.

“I think Femi has been doing a really good job for us the entire season.

“In the beginning, he needed a little bit more luck with his end product, but he has been working hard on that.

“And when he finally got it, he now has that confidence. He is just such a powerful player for us.

“I’m very happy with the performance today, especially as it is at the start of such a busy period.

“I think that the players put everything into it to get the three points.

“Perhaps in the first 15 minutes, we didn’t feel comfortable. But after that, we managed the game until the very end.

“So we’re happy to enjoy the victory today but our recovery has already started to be ready for the next game.”

Wigan are now without a league win in three outings.

“These games aren’t so easy and I think that, in the defining moments, Reading were better,” said manager Shaun Maloney.

“Even at half-time, I was happy with the performance in the first half.

“But the big criticism of the players is that when we play like that, when we stop Reading from playing, we can’t come in 1-0 down (at the break).

“The performance was pretty good, maybe in that final third was the area that we just dropped slightly.

“But I can’t be too critical of the players in those positions because, for so much of the season, they’ve been very good.

“It was just those two big moments. In terms of their goals, they took their chances and we didn’t. That was the main difference.

“We had to change our defensive line today and tried to find a structure that made us as solid as we could be.

“In terms of that, I was actually quite happy with how we started the game, but we became a little bit less controlled in the second half.”

Darren Ferguson was thrilled with his Peterborough side’s character after they won 2-1 at Shrewsbury to remain in touching distance of Sky Bet League One leaders Portsmouth.

Shrewsbury went ahead just before the hour mark after Jordan Shipley’s cross-cum-shot found the back of the net.

But after dominating for large parts, Peterborough found their cutting edge after going behind and were back on level terms within six minutes when Ricky-Jade Jones converted from close range.

They then went on to win it with just under 15 minutes remaining as Hector Kyprianou bundled the ball in from close range to grab a goal and assist.

Ferguson said: “It’s a big three points. Like I have said for a while now it’s just about getting the points on the board, and we have managed to dig one out, I suppose, today.

“The conditions are what they are, and at this time of year, you don’t expect much different, but I thought we handled it OK.

“We didn’t start the game well. We didn’t have enough tempo about our game, and then we managed to get control.

“These are the important ones (wins). I said to the players these are the ones you look back on and think that was a big three points.

“The reaction of the players was fantastic to go 1-0 down, great character David (Ajiboye) has come on and made a great impact and I was delighted with him.”

Shrews boss Matt Taylor said: “It hurts that one because it is the first time this season where we’ve gone in the lead and lost a game of football.

“It is tough to stand here now and take that, but when you contextualise everything and remove emotion, they are a really good team.

“We are obviously in a period where we have had two really difficult home games. I would have loved to have finished this calendar year and our last home game with a positive result.

“Whether that be a draw or win against a team that will obviously be there at the end of the season.

“The players have gone toe-to-toe with an opposition that will probably be in the play-offs this season.

“You can see the attacking threat they have but the goals we have conceded are nowhere near good enough.

“We work and talk about everything on the training pitch, and today, especially with the second goal to come from a set play.

“It’s something we spoke about as a group and highlighted as a group of staff so to concede that goal the way we did is nowhere near good enough.”

Barnsley head coach Neill Collins praised his side’s attitude as they came from behind to defeat Stevenage 2-1 at Oakwell.

Luther James-Wildin gave Stevenage an early lead before goals from John McAtee and Herbie Kane completed Barnsley’s comeback.

Collins said: “Overall, really pleased with the players in terms of their never-say-die attitude, defending the box and putting their bodies in front of everything.

“Overall, in the first half, I thought we were very good despite going behind again to an early goal which was really frustrating.

“The players responded really well and the only thing that was letting us down was some of the quality.”

On McAtee’s goal, Collins said: “It was an important time. The players, despite actually being in control, were getting a little bit nervous just because some of the passes weren’t coming off.

“We came from behind, something that I think is a great trait to have, I’d like to stop us going behind but we came from behind and overall, a big three points against a really difficult team.

“I think he’s been excellent and our strength and depth showed as well with the changes we were able to make”

On Kane marking his 100th appearance for the club with a goal, Collins said: “First of all, 100 appearances is excellent. It says a lot about Herbie, he’s always fit to train, always available when the chips are down.

“It’s a great bit of play because he’s seen the space and he’s took it and he kept driving. If you hit shots on target, things like that happen.”

Stevenage manager Steve Evans felt the result was harsh on his side.

He said: “It’s very hard to take isn’t it. We score a good goal; we were by far the better side.

“We miss a good chance, a one-on-one to make it 2-0, but we don’t hit the target and then we lose our concentration at the back, one ball does us.

“You’ve got to be fair to them, it’s a class finish.”

On his side’s start to the game, Evans said: “I thought we were terrific anyway, we dominated and got the goal.

“There’s a couple of pivotal moments isn’t there. Jordan Roberts should score; we did great to press and go through. At least hit the target, we didn’t do it.

“We’ve played really well today so I can’t come out here and criticise players.”

On the end of his side’s 13 game unbeaten run, Evans said: “We said ourselves that a win today would’ve brought back points that were left behind last week.

“I’ve always judged it on performance and we did enough to win last week.

“We’ve done enough today; we were outstanding for long spells.”

Darrell Clarke believes Cheltenham’s 1-0 win at Carlisle has now put them in the race to survive in League One this season.

Many had written off the rock-bottom Robins by the time Clarke was appointed at the end of September and they endured a run of 11 games without even scoring at the start of the season.

But Liam Sercombe’s first-half winner at Brunton Park means they have now scored in 10 successive matches since then and they are now just three points from safety.

“We have put ourselves into the fight, I firmly believe,” said Clarke, whose side are still bottom but are now level on points with Carlisle immediately above them.

“Let’s make no bones about it, two or three months ago we were nowhere near it.

“Now, we are fighting and scrapping away and trying as hard as we possibly can to stay in the league.”

Experienced midfielder Sercombe reacted quickest to touch in George Lloyd’s pass after Carlisle goalkeeper Tomas Holy spilled the ball while trying to prevent a corner in the 27th minute.

Cheltenham had lost in-form striker Will Goodwin to injury inside three minutes, but with the strong wind behind them, they began to create chances against a Carlisle side clearly lacking in confidence.

Lloyd had the ball in the net in the eighth minute, but the offside flag was raised.

Carlisle then had a goal disallowed of their own, with Jon Mellish denied in the 20th minute.

Cheltenham opened the scoring and went close again through Rob Street in the 44th minute, before Jordan Gibson saw a shot saved for the hosts before the break.

Carlisle applied pressure in the second half, but a shot over the bar from Dan Butterworth in the 75th minute was all they could muster and they are now without a win in seven.

Clarke was particularly pleased after last week’s 2-1 home defeat by Leyton Orient, who scored two goals in the closing minutes.

“To not get any points from that one and then coming here, it was a big game for both teams,” he said.

“My lads stood up to the challenge. It wasn’t a classic, but it was never going to be in gale force winds and we defended our goal superbly.

“A little bit of quality and a mistake from their goalie and we win the game, so I am delighted.”

Carlisle drop to 23rd following the loss and boss Paul Simpson admitted they were second best on the day.

“We got what we deserved, which is absolutely nothing,” Simpson said.

“I am embarrassed to say it, but Cheltenham wanted it more than us and that’s a rubbish thing to have to say.

“They competed, they won first contacts, got onto second balls and we were poor in possession.

“The mistake was horrendous and I am getting fed up of talking about goalkeeping mistakes. It gave them something to hang on to and they absolutely did that, while we didn’t have enough, it’s as simple as that.”

Ryan Sweeney’s stoppage-time goal earned managerless Burton a 1-1 draw at Charlton as Albion ended a run of five successive League One defeats.

The Addicks dominated possession in the first 45 minutes without totally clicking in the final third, although they did have a goal from Lloyd Jones to show for their efforts.

Jones emphatically headed home a cross from centre-back partner Michael Hector in the 19th minute.

Scott Fraser also went close for the hosts with a whipped free-kick over the Burton wall but it cleared the bar while Charlton skipper George Dobson drove a shot wide from Alfie May’s pass before the interval.

The second half was similarly low key and it took the visitors until the 57th minute to produce a notable effort on goal, Ashley Maynard-Brewer easily dealing with Mustapha Carayol’s shot from the edge of the box.

And it looked as though Charlton would hold on for the points, only for Burton to grab an equaliser in added time.

Burton midfielder Joe Powell’s set-piece deliveries had caused problems all afternoon and his free-kick dropped for Sweeney inside the box and he calmly converted past Maynard-Brewer.

Charlton stretch their unbeaten league run to seven matches but five of those have been draws – impeding their play-off prospects.

Substitute James Wilson struck a 90th-minute equaliser as Port Vale escaped with a 1-1 draw at Wycombe that extended the home side’s winless run in Sky Bet League One.

The Chairboys have not won in 10 league games and will be kicking themselves for not picking up all three points after controlling proceedings but failing to build on Kieran Sadlier’s opener.

Wycombe began well, with Sadlier volleying Garath McCleary’s driven cross over before the same player forced a save from Connor Ripley from 25 yards.

The dominant home side deservedly took the lead in the 51st minute when McCleary sent in a superb cross that was tucked away by an unmarked Sadlier at the back post.

McCleary almost claimed another assist just after the hour when his pass ran through for Sam Vokes, whose effort was kept out by Ripley.

And the hosts’ failure to kill the game off cost them late on when Wilson was on hand to put away the rebound after Max Stryjek brilliantly saved Ben Garitty’s header.

Barnsley came from behind to defeat Sky Bet League One play-off rivals Stevenage 2-1 at Oakwell.

Luther James-Wildin opened the scoring before John McAtee and Herbie Kane hit back for the hosts.

Boro broke the deadlock just four minutes on the clock when Barnsley goalkeeper Liam Roberts parried Jamie Reid’s effort into the path of James-Wildin to tap home.

Steve Evans’ side were gifted an opportunity on the half-hour mark when Corey O’Keefe’s poor backwards pass was intercepted by Jordan Roberts, who flashed an effort across the face of goal.

Barnsley equalised in the 32nd minute when Callum Styles’ long ball over the top found McAtee in behind. The Luton loanee controlled and lobbed Taye Ashby-Hammond with an audacious effort from the edge of the box.

McAtee could have added a second just two minutes later after he was played through on goal by Devante Cole, but Ashby-Hammond rushed out to make the save.

Neill Collins’ side took the lead in the 70th minute when Kane received the ball just inside the opposition half and drove forward, seeing his deflected effort loop in from the edge of the box.

Tyreece Simpson scored a stoppage-time winner as Northampton moved into the top 10 in League One with a dramatic 2-1 win over promotion-chasing Oxford at Sixfields.

Cameron Brannagan had cancelled out Kieron Bowie’s opener for the hosts but Simpson headed home in the seventh minute of injury time as the in-form Cobblers made it five wins from seven league games.

An early effort from Sam Hoskins was no trouble for Oxford goalkeeper James Beadle before the visitors went close themselves when Max Thompson saved with his legs from the lively Josh Murphy.

Chances continued to arrive at both ends in an open first half as Beadle kept out Mitch Pinnock while Ciaron Brown hooked over and Stanley Mills shot straight at Thompson.

Goalless at the break, Bowie hit the post within three minutes of the restart but he immediately adjusted his radar and gave Northampton a 50th-minute lead when nodding Pinnock’s cross into the bottom corner.

Marc Leonard missed a good chance to double the lead and that was immediately punished by Oxford when Patrick Brough fouled Mills in the box and Brannagan smashed home the penalty.

However, Northampton finished strongly and won it with virtually the last kick of the game when Simpson headed home Pinnock’s free-kick seven minutes into added time.

Ian Evatt celebrated his 100th win as Bolton boss with Wanderers recovering from back-to-back Sky Bet League One defeats to beat Leyton Orient 3-2.

Evatt, an age-group cricketer for Warwickshire, was marooned on 99 not out after losses to Portsmouth and Bristol Rovers.

But he reached his ton as Bolton hit the opposition for three in the opening 10 minutes and despite a second-half Orient revival.

Josh Dacres-Cogley netted after three minutes to put Wanderers in front. Orient fell further behind four minutes later as Northern Ireland international Dion Charles registered his 16th goal of the season for club and country.

Charles then turned provider for George Thomason whose first shot was saved by Sol Brynn, only for the midfielder to net the rebound.

Former Trotter Darren Pratley was one of two substitutes introduced at half-time to give Orient a more competitive edge.

Shaq Forde reduced his side’s arrears after 55 minutes and Theo Archibald scored a spectacular second five minutes later, but Bolton held on for Evatt to seal the landmark victory.

Liam Sercombe’s first-half strike earned Cheltenham a priceless 1-0 away victory over fellow strugglers Carlisle.

The midfielder reacted quickest to touch in George Lloyd’s pass after Carlisle goalkeeper Tomas Holy spilled the ball while trying to prevent a corner in the 27th minute.

It meant that after failing to score in their opening 11 games of the campaign, improving Cheltenham have now scored in 10 successive matches, during which run they have picked up all four of their wins this season.

Darrell Clarke’s men are still bottom of the League One standings, but are now within three points of safety.

Cheltenham lost in-form striker Will Goodwin to injury inside three minutes, but with the strong wind behind them, they began to create chances.

Substitute Lloyd, who replaced Goodwin, had the ball in the net in the eighth minute, but the offside flag was raised.

Carlisle then had a goal disallowed of their own, with Jon Mellish denied in the 20th minute.

Cheltenham opened the scoring soon after that and went close again through Rob Street in the 44th minute, before Jordan Gibson saw a shot saved for the hosts before the break.

Carlisle applied pressure in the second half, but a shot over the bar from Dan Butterworth in the 75th minute was all they could muster and they are now without a win in seven.

Blackpool’s strong home form this season continued with a 3-1 win over Bristol Rovers at Bloomfield Road.

First-half goals from Ollie Norburn and John Marquis saw the sides go in level at the break before Blackpool strikers Jake Beesley and Jordan Rhodes struck in the second half.

The hosts drew first blood thanks to a 30-yard screamer from Norburn that flew into the top corner after 21 minutes.

Rovers equalised shortly after courtesy of Marquis, who was alive inside the area to tap in from close range.

Karamoko Dembele struck a free-kick against the crossbar with Blackpool pushing hard to get back in front before half-time.

They did just that after the interval when Dembele set up Beesley in the first minute of the second half.

Luke Thomas had one ruled out for offside and Dan Grimshaw saved from Aaron Collins as Rovers went in search of an equaliser.

Beesley then made way for Kyle Joseph, who came on and grabbed an assist – setting up Rhodes to steer in his 15th goal of the season to make it 26 points from their 13 home games.

Colby Bishop’s 12th goal of the season could not prevent Sky Bet League One leaders Portsmouth from dropping two points at home in a 1-1 draw with lowly Fleetwood.

There was very little for the fans to cheer about in the opening 45 minutes, but it was in stoppage time that Pompey took the lead with a penalty.

Pompey were lethargic from the start, with very little imagination against a defensively minded Fleetwood.

Half chances from Abu Kamara, who hit a post in the 40th minute, were the best they could produce.

Then a handball in the box gave Bishop the chance to increase his goal tally, which he did comfortably.

Fleetwood came out with more urgency and unexpectedly equalised in the 61st minute.

A corner caused a scramble in Pompey’s six-yard box and Josh Earl stabbed the ball home.

Chance after chance went begging for Pompey, but they just could not find the winner.

Peterborough piled the pressure on Sky Bet League One leaders Portsmouth as they closed to within five points of the summit after beating Shrewsbury 2-1 thanks to goals from Ricky-Jade Jones and Hector Kyprianou.

Posh’s first clear-cut chance came after the 20-minute mark through Jones, who was one-on-one with Marko Marosi but scuffed his effort way wide.

Jones was in the thick of the action once again minutes later. The forward got in behind the Shrews defence but fired his effort just over.

Just before the hour mark, Shrewsbury pulled ahead after some neat football found Jordan Shipley out wide.

The versatile left wing-back’s cross-cum-shot rippled into the back of the net at the far post.

Posh pulled level minutes later after Kyprianou slipped a through ball into Jones. The attacker unleashed a first-time shot from close range to find the bottom corner.

The away side were in the ascendency and found the winner with just under 15 minutes remaining.

Substitute David Ajiboye drilled a low ball into the danger zone and Kyprianou bundled home at the near post to grab a goal and assist.

Struggling Reading boosted their chances of avoiding Sky Bet League One relegation when they secured a well-deserved 2-0 victory at home to Wigan.

In a scrappy first half, Reading took a 34th-minute lead when Femi Azeez rifled home a superb left-footed shot from distance.

Sam Smith increased the lead five minutes into the second period and, with Wigan barely offering a threat, the hosts held on comfortably.

Reading had hit a moderate run of good form, with two wins and only one defeat in their previous five league matches.

Neither side impressed in a dour opening but Reading, after Azeez had already had one goalbound effort blocked, went ahead 11 minutes before the break.

A slick home move appeared to have broken down until Azeez latched on to the loose ball and thundered in a 20-yard rocket past keeper Sam Tickle.

Wigan should have levelled in first-half stoppage time but Charlie Wyke sent a free header wastefully wide from Liam Shaw’s excellent cross.

It proved costly, with Reading doubling their advantage early in the second period as Smith cleverly converted a precise centre from Amadou Mbengue.

Wigan offered little in response, apart from a Callum Lang free-kick that drifted narrowly wide, and Reading easily saw out the rest of the game.