Charlton manager Nigel Adkins says he’s working hard to remain in post after latest loss

BY LOUIS MENDEZ

Nigel Adkins has reiterated his desire to stay and fight for his job after Charlton’s latest defeat.

The Addicks fell to a late 2-1 reverse as Lincoln City’s Regan Poole headed past Craig MacGillivray in the first minute of added-time.

The South Londoners remain rooted in the relegation zone having tasted victory just twice in their opening twelve, losing seven.

Pressure is building on Adkins but the Charlton boss says he’s working hard to turn things around.

“We all know what football is,” said Adkins.

“I want to be the Charlton Athletic manager. We’re working hard. Everything is reflected on the results you get on the pitch. So, I’m aware of that. I want to be the manager and we work hard. A lot of people work very hard at the football club. Today you could argue that things didn’t quite go our way but the reality is we lost the game.”

There’s a ten-point deficit for the Addicks to make up if they are to try and catch the top six. When asked if Charlton still have any hope of joining the promotion chase, Adkins said: “I know there’s a desire there for all of us to do it. It’s going to be a long season. We’ve just got to break it down to the next game.

“Work hard through the course of the week and go and win the next game of football. We’ve maybe got to look at it that way. There’s team that have been in this situation in the past and got themselves promoted. What we’ve got to do is chunk it all down and go what’s the next game. Do everything we can to do to win the next game.

“We’ve got to keep believing in that. We’ve got a group of lads who are here and we’ve got to get behind the players and give them as much support and encouragement as possible.”

Charlton had won for just the second time of the season before the international break as they beat Fleetwood on the road. Many would have hoped today’s trip to Sincil Bank would have been a chance to kickstart some momentum. When asked if Adkins saw the reaction he was expecting after the week off, he explained: “I thought we were very good for the first 20 minutes. I think you’ve got to agree with that.

“Elliot Lee between the lines and the counter attacking. Elliot going off, there was a lull in the game for five or six minutes. I know we didn’t get to grips well enough with them playing out from the back which we had been working on. Elliot was a big part of that. When you’re down there, we’re trying to find, we need that victory to start things and it’s gone against us today.

“We knew they play out from the back. I don’t think Macca’s had a save to make in the first-half. You talk about possession but where did they have that possession. We were looking to try and suck them so we could hit them on the counter-attack as we’d done on three or four occasions before. That’s what we were looking for. Maybe, Charlie Kirk and Josh Davison weren’t on the same wavelength as Elliot Lee and Davison had been on the first bit. We’d been working on the training ground on that.”

PHOTO: KYLE ANDREWS