Lee Bowyer says there’s still room for improvement after Charlton claim opening day win at Crewe

BY LOUIS MENDEZ

Charlton got their League One campaign off to a solid start as they came away 2-0 winners at newly-promoted Crewe Alexandra.

The Addicks, playing their first game at this level since relegation from the Championship, were two goals to the good at the interval thanks to a smart finish from Alfie Doughty after he latched on to a smart ball through from Alex Gilbey, with Connor Washington then adding his first strike for the club just before the break.

The hosts did come back into the game in front of an empty Gresty Road in the second-period, but Bowyer’s side held on for all three points – although the Addicks boss felt there was still plenty of room for improvement.

He said: “We played okay. I expect us to be a lot, lot better than that. First game, the most important thing is that you come away with the three points and a clean-sheet, so it was good.

“The most important thing is that we know there’s room for improvement. I see them, they’re much better than this every single day. Maybe the pitch was dry, it wasn’t moving as freely as we would like.

“Alex [Gilbey] has got that vision and Alfie took it well. The frustrating thing was that we had the opportunity to do that maybe five or six times in the first half but we didn’t make the pass. We didn’t take care of the pass.

“We won the ball so high, so many times. The traps we set, stuff that we worked on, it all paid off. But once you win it then you have to punish them. I felt we should have been 3-0 or 4-0 up at half-time, if we’d have done things properly. But first game in, it’s all positive.”

PHOTOS: SEAN GOSLING/ KYLE ANDREWS