‘Important not to overreact’ – Scott Fraser assesses Charlton Athletic’s start to League One season

Scott Fraser has emphasised the importance of not overreacting to Charlton Athletic’s 3-1 defeat at Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

The Scottish midfielder’s fourth minute goal gave the Addicks a dream start in Greater Manchester.

But Conor Bradley quickly levelled – although there looked a strong claim for handball – before Kieran Lee and George Johnston struck to inflict a second loss of the League One campaign on the South Londoners.

The reverse dropped Charlton to 12th in the standings, three points behind sixth-placed Peterborough United.

Fraser admitted to the South London Press that the Addicks were not at their best against Bolton.

“It’s probably the worst we’ve been this season, particularly the first half,” he said. “Second half we were very good for the first 25-30 minutes, back to how we have been for the majority of this season so far.

“They are obviously a very good side – but we made them look a lot better in the first half. When we got back to playing our own game, like we had in the previous six matches, we’ve shown again how good we can be.

“You give the opposition credit for how they play and press but, for the team we want to be, we need to be braver and better in playing out.

“Teams will want to press us, particularly in our away games – we’re not going to go to opposition, particularly a club like Bolton with a big crowd, and them let us pass how we want to pass. We’ve got to be braver and better at adapting and dealing with things on the pitch.

“We’ve been very good this season. And I don’t think the one game, or one half, should take away from how much improvement we have had so far.

“We go into training for a new week – we analyse the game in the morning and then we look to get better. That’s what we’ve done even in the games we’ve won or played very well. We got the good results against Derby and Plymouth but it was the same in the days after – you look at what you can improve on and what you did well.”

Charlton have faced five of the current top 10 in their opening seven fixtures. Even Wycombe Wanderers, down in 14th, are expected to be promotion contenders.

“The biggest thing for me is that we don’t have an overreaction to Saturday’s loss,” said Fraser, who signed from Ipswich Town in January. “Up until Saturday we were eighth in the league.

“You go Accy away, Plymouth at home, Derby at home, Sheffield Wednesday away – these are tough, tough games. Before Saturday we had only had one defeat – and that was one of our best performances of the season.

“At Sheffield Wednesday [a 1-0 loss] we were absolutely brilliant. It was probably the most enjoyable game I’ve had at Charlton. You come away thinking: ‘How did we lose that?’.

“We look at it [the Bolton defeat] and aim to get better at what the gaffer wants us to do. I think we will and we’ve got two home games now where we can get our heads down and try to take six points.

“If we do that then the table looks different and we’re right back in contention. That’s how you need to look at things.”

The 5-1 thrashing of Plymouth was a prime example of Ben Garner’s team clicking.

But Fraser cites the 1-1 draw against Cambridge United in SE7 that immediately followed as one of the challenges Charlton face.

“They came and sat in, they made it very hard for us to break through,” he said. “We need to take that as a positive. I watched games last season before I signed, and when I signed, teams would come to The Valley and almost expect a win.

“We need to keep perspective and use that to our advantage – go and play our  best football, create chances and score as many goals as we can.”
Fraser leads Charlton’s scoring charts with three, finishing smartly across Bolton keeper James Trafford with Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, so impressive since making a loan switch from Crystal Palace, laying on the shooting chance.

“I got a goal on my debut at Ipswich and didn’t really kick on from that,” said Fraser. “So after scoring at Accy on the opening day  it was something I wanted to do – start this season well. I spoke to the manager, my friends and family about it.

“Thankfully I’ve managed to do that and up until Saturday, as a team, we’d had a strong start.

“It suits me more, the style of football [under Garner] – The responsibility that the gaffer puts on me. I’m still getting better. All the boys are. We’re only seven games into what could be a 50-game plus season.”

Fraser did not have a whole lot of luck after arriving at Charlton on a deal until 2025.

Firstly he contracted Covid and then a knee injury kept him out of the run in.

“The last four or five months of last season was a bit of a disaster,” said Fraser.

“I probably could’ve made it back for the last game or two but, speaking to the medical department, there was no point rushing. So my pre-season started before the last one even finished.

“I only got a week or 10 days off and then my pre-season started again.

“Touch wood, since I’ve been back I have trained every day and you get fitter every day.

“You get sharper – that’s the big thing. Every footballer these days is fit – we can all run – but it’s getting the little touches, twists and turns, particularly how I like to play.

“I still expect to get fitter and stronger.”