Charlton boss Lee Bowyer accepts display wasn’t good enough during defeat at Middlesbrough
BY LOUIS MENDEZ
Charlton boss Lee Bowyer was hugely disappointed with his side’s display as they were beaten 1-0 by Middlesbrough.
Former Millwall man George Saville bagged what proved to be the only goal of the game inside the opening minute, with the South Londoners rarely looking like getting back into the contest.
The defeat stretches the 17th-placed Addicks’ winless run to eight games, although they still have a healthy seven-point buffer above the Championship relegation zone.
“Not good enough,” admitted Bowyer.
“From start to finish, they were better than us. Defensively, I thought we were not physical enough. The two strikers ran us ragged at times. Too many crosses came into the box. There just didn’t seem that fight. It wasn’t one or two, it was like the whole lot. It’s one of them that you just have to move on from quickly.
“Because if there’s one thing I’ve been able to stand here and say after every game, is that we competed and we fought and gave everything. Today, we fell short there. We fell short on the physical side of the game. Normally that’s a good plus for us. Today, it wasn’t.
“First-half we were very, very bad. I made changes at half-time. I thought we were a but better second-half. Well, a lot better second-half than we were first-half. But again we were still not our normal selves. We’ll be in tomorrow, go through things and get it right for Tuesday.
“The only positive I can take today is that Lyle came on and got 45 minutes into him. That’s the only positive. Apart from that, it was a bad day.
“It’s tough when you’ve got 12-13 out like we have. I’ve said before, if you take 12-13 players out of any squad, it’s going to be tough. I know we will come through this but we just need a bit of help. We just need some of those bodies to come back.
“We’ll regroup and dust ourselves down and go again Tuesday (against Huddersfield at The Valley). We will be better Tuesday, I can assure you. The lads will be up for it and firing. That’s the first time that I’ve actually not been too happy with their work rate. That’s not bad going in 18 months. But it’s disappointing because I felt this as a place we could come and maybe take three points.”
PHOTOS: KYLE ANDREWS
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