Charlton manager Lee Bowyer was left seething last night as his side’s eight-match unbeaten run was brought to a halt with a 4-2 defeat against a Burton Albion side who had won just once in League One before kick-off.
The Addicks found themselves 2-0 down inside 39 minutes after individual errors from Chris Gunter and Ben Amos gifted Brewers duo Lucas Akins and Joe Powell goals, though Paul Smyth’s first goal in Charlton colours did the give the visitors some hope on the stroke of half-time.
The Brewers restored their two-goal cushion just eight minutes into the second half when Leicester loanee Sam Hughes tapped in from inside the six-yard box.
Chuks Aneke’s spectacular acrobatic effort got Charlton back into the game again, but Charles Vernam’s strike nine minutes later all but secured a second win of the season for Jake Buxton’s men.
“It’s Like We’ve Never Played Football Before”
Bowyer gave an honest assessment of his side’s performance in his post-match press conference, with the Charlton boss expressing his disappointment at Tuesday night’s showing after the Addicks’ strong run of form in the league.
Asked about the sloppiness of his side’s performance, the 43-year-old said: “It ain’t acceptable and it never will be acceptable, not playing for me. It was like we’ve never played football before. It was just crazy. I can’t put it down to anything.
“The worst thing is it was the more senior players that were doing it, who have been in the game forever. They won’t make those mistakes again in the whole season. Disappointing because we had an opportunity. Unbeaten in eight and then we go and do that. I didn’t see that coming at all.”
“A Wake-up Call”
The Charlton manager admitted he thinks the defeat is a bit of a wake-up call and explained that there is still a long way to go this season.
“Anyone that thinks we are just going to walk into that top six, it doesn’t just happen like that. You have to earn it. It’s a wake-up call for some of the players because I won’t accept some of the things that I was seeing tonight. I’ve just told them that.
“We’ve just played a team that were bottom before we kicked-off and everyone thinks eight unbeaten and we are going to walk the league. That’s not realistic,” said Bowyer. “Football’s not like that.”
Charlton head to Portman Road on Saturday to take on fellow promotion candidates Ipswich Town and Bowyer will certainly be after a reaction from his men after a disastrous display at the Pirelli Stadium.
