Rochdale victory must be catalyst of strong run of results, says Charlton boss Lee Bowyer

BY LOUIS MENDEZ

Charlton must turn their 2-0 victory at Rochdale into the catalyst of a strong run of results, reckons boss Lee Bowyer.

Goals from Chuks Aneke and Deji Oshilaja inside the opening half an hour were enough to secure the points at Spotland and propel the Addicks back into League One’s top six.

The triumph was the Addicks third in their last six outings but they’ve failed to kick on and put a string of results together since winning six in a row at the end of October and start of November and Bowyer says that now is the time to start a sequence of results that will give his side a hope of competing against those around them – all of whom have games in hand on the South Londoners.

“Now, it’s come to that point where we have to go on a run, a big run,” explained the Addicks manager.

“Do I believe that the players are capable of doing that? Yes. I think I’ve got a good group now, a good honest group. I said to them yesterday that they’ve got to believe in themselves. It’s alright me believing in them but they’ve got to believe in themselves. Today, I think they showed that they are starting to believe a little bit.

“There’s a long way to go. A lot of games to play. A lot of points to play for. The most important thing is we got the points today and something to build upon.

“From start to finish we were good. We did the basics well. When you come to places like this, difficult conditions, really windy and rainy. Clean sheet. The lads that came back into the side, I thought they did really well.

“Ben [Purrington] and [Jason] Pearcey at the back. I thought we looked solid all day. The four lads in front of them worked hard. From start to finish I thought we were very good.

“[Aneke] was unlucky not to get more, he hit the post as well. He caused them problems. Chuks is a very good player. With that physical side to him as well. I wouldn’t want to play against him.”

The game was a complete departure from the rollercoaster 4-4 draw between the two sides at The Valley a month ago. Dale had both the league’s third worst defensive record and third most potent attack before this afternoon’s clash but Ben Amos in the Addicks goal was rarely troubled.

Bowyer added: “I think we put a few things right that went wrong when we played them at home. We carried on from the second-half performance [in the 4-4 draw] and I thought we were very good. They scored four goals at home in the first-half that they probably won’t score goals like that again. That was just the way things were going for us then. But the most important thing is we’ve got the three points and we move on.”

PHOTOS: KYLE ANDREWS