Every word Nigel Adkins said to Charlton TV after 4-1 defeat to Bolton Wanderers

Nigel Adkins admitted his Charlton Athletic side conceded some “really disappointing goals” as tonight’s 4-1 loss to Bolton at The Valley only increased the pressure and scrutiny on his position.

The Addicks boss once again made a number of changes – five – from the side that drew 2-2 with Portsmouth on Saturday.

The early signs were promising as Josh Davison converted Jonathan Leko’s cross in the 12th minute.

But former Tooting & Mitcham youngster Oladapo Afolayan levelled before the interval as he cut inside Adam Matthews and found the bottom right corner of the net with a strike from the edge of the box.

Josh Davison struck the outside of the post in the second period before Kieran Lee put Wanderers 2-1 up. Any defensive cohesion deserted the South Londoners after that with Lee helping himself to a second before Antoni Sarcevic rounded Craig MacGillivray to make it a miserable evening for the hosts.

Those Charlton fans who stayed until the end demanded a change of boss in mutinous scenes at the full-time whistle.

Asked by Charlton TV if it was a tough result, Adkins replied: “You’re right, it is a tough one. We were very good in the first half and scored a great goal. We could see the way they wanted to play out from the back and we had a really good defensive set-up about ourselves and we’ve gone and scored from that.

“It was a good goal we’ve scored. Sean Clare has intercepted, we’ve countered and Josh Davison was there again. We were really lively and bright and getting down that side of the pitch as well. We could’ve got the game out of sight.

“We’ve conceded bang on half-time. We’ve allowed their wide player to cut inside, we knew he was going to do that, and we’ve allowed him to get a shot off. Macca couldn’t save it, he was impeded.

“It was a close, even game for 70, 73, 74 or 75 minutes – whatever it was. They’ve gone and scored and Conor could’ve equalised after that when we put him up top. To concede and end up with a four against us – a couple of ricochets and deflections – makes it really, really challenging.

“You’ve got to put the ball in the net. You can’t concede four goals at home. We’ve done really well in the first half-hour in particular and in the last 20 minutes, trying to win it, we’ve let the game go away from us with some poor goals that have got a couple of ricochets as well. That was the challenging bit.

“We’ve got to do a lot of things better. We’re 10 games into the season now and today there were some real bright moments as well as some really disappointing goals we’ve conceded. The scoreline reflects it all really.

“There’s a lot of disappointment around the whole stadium, it’s fair to say. A football club the size of this shouldn’t be in the position they are right now but the reality is we are.

“It is good that in the first half hour we’ve got players who are getting on the pitch and playing. We’ve got to make sure we get points on the board now.”

PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD