Charlton Athletic boss Holden expecting response at MK as Ipswich defeat provides absolutely no positives

Charlton manager Dean Holden feels there are no positives to glean from the 6-0 defeat at Ipswich Town on Saturday – other than his players showing their resilience by performing far better at Milton Keynes tonight.

The Addicks were taken apart at Portman Road by the promotion-chasing Tractor Boys.

And the South Londoners are straight back into League One action tonight.

Asked if there were even the smallest plusses that Holden could take out of the Ipswich match – which also saw Ryan Inniss sent off – he told the South London Press: “There are none, in the short term. It will be a great experience for our young players in the future.

“Saturday’s game is one where we have to take our medicine. What it does give us, and I said it to the players, is that results like that – the same as when we beat Shrewsbury 6-0 a couple of weeks ago – it means people from the wider world naturally take notice because of the size of the scoreline.

“It does give us a wonderful opportunity to show how you should respond and react to something like that. It’s not a positive, it’s a fact. It gives us the opportunity to provide a response to such a disappointing performance.”

Holden reviewed the Ipswich match over the weekend.

“It was the exact same process as always,” he said. “I have my own routine which I stick to – win, lose or draw.

“I watch the game back with a clear head, analyse it like I always do and don’t over-react to certain things. Then look to improve on what we see in the game. We talk about it with the players and we look to make improvements. It’s obviously a quick turnaround from Saturday to tomorrow’s game – a lot of it now is a mindset thing and mentality, not letting one bad afternoon, which it was, override what has been good in recent weeks.

“We need to get back to doing what we’ve done well.”

PICTURE: KYLE ANDREWS