Charlton boss Dean Holden: It’s up to me as leader to turn this around after latest ‘sucker punch’ at Oxford

Charlton boss Dean Holden reckons that his side’s run of five defeats on the spin in league and cup just makes him “more determined” to put things right.

The Addicks conceded a winning goal beyond the 85^th-minute for the third game in a row as Oxford United extended their good start to the season with a 2-1 victory at the Kassam Stadium.

Tyler Goodrham slammed the hosts ahead within ten minutes against a youthful Charlton outfit, who fielded five players aged 21 or under from the off.

Holden was forced into a change in shape and personnel before half-time as Wolves loanee Chem Campbell was introduced for his debut.

The Charlton manager made two further changes at the break with Michael Hector and Tyreece Campbell brought on. The switches had the desired effect as the visitors improved and grabbed a leveller through Alfie May.

But the U’s hit the South Londoners on the counter inside the final few minutes with Goodrham grabbing his second of the game to seal the victory for Liam Manning’s charges.

Charlton’s joint-worst start in 33 years has seen them take just three points after five league games.

“We deserve more than we’ve had in the league but we’re having to say that a lot at the moment,” explained Holden.

“How does it affect me? It just makes me more and more determined. I’ve had many more difficult times than this in my life, trust me. This is part of management. It’s about me as the leader keeping everybody up.

“Dealing with the issues we’ve got but keeping everybody positive. It always starts with the leader. We’ll be back in to work quickly and we’ll turn this around.

“We started the game excellently. We had the best chance of the game through Alfie May when the ball landed to him on the penalty spot and he couldn’t execute. Then their centre back makes a two-handed save that any goalkeeper in the world would be proud of.

“We lose a tackle on the edge of our box and he hits a great strike. All of a sudden we’re 1-0 down and our response wasn’t acceptable after that. We got pulled all over in terms of our shape. We got ragged and I didn’t like what I was seeing at that point, hence the changes.

“We changed the system, made changes at half-time and I was really pleased with the second half. We came out the traps and got on top of the opposition. A deserved equaliser from a well-worked goal. A quick free-kick that we work on all the time.

“The way we lost the game is a real sucker punch. We make a decision to stay high up the pitch. Seven or eight seconds later it lands and we can’t get back in. There was a lot of good stuff in the second half but we’ve got to fine tune these moments. It’s a lesson we’ve got to learn from.”

PHOTOS: KYLE ANDREWS