Greg Docherty was disappointed that the Addicks weren’t able to capitalise on their dominance as they were beaten 2-0 by Reading at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
“Obviously we had a really, really good start [to the season]. Came here today, obviously wanting to get maximum as we do every game,” he said.
“There were a couple of things we maybe didn’t get right in the first half but we still should have been in at half time probably ahead. We had good chances, we defended the box really well.
“This league, it punishes you when you don’t expect it. Second half it’s total ascendancy, total dominance and then you lose the ball and somebody sticks it in from 30 yards. Okay, that can happen, but the second goal – there were words in the dressing room about that because as a team that’s something that can’t happen.
“Going 1-0 down I actually thought the reaction was good, but to concede the second like that, you just give yourself a mountain to climb, and that’s the real frustrating thing.”
The skipper felt that the side were just missing the final touches in front of goal. “We had more than enough, particularly at the start of the second half,” he said.
“We felt comfortable. I could tell on the pitch that they were sinking. We just needed that bit more quality to get that first goal. That’s the frustrating thing, because if the first one went in, I’m sure multiple would have followed after it.”
Docherty expects the team to learn from their mistake for the second goal. “We’ve got to react better. They categorically cannot score from there. We are a team that cannot let that happen,” he said.
“As long as we learn from that, as long as we build from it – it happened now, it was a sucker punch at the time, it’s a sore one now and it will take a while to get over – but the thing is we bounce back now. This is where good teams show what they’ve got. Nine points from 12 to start the season.
“It’s going to be a difficult league. There’s going to be times when you’re on top and times when you need to dig in. We defended the box really well first half. Second half we had more than enough to go and punish them and that’s the disappointing thing – that we didn’t do that.”
A big week is now in store for the Addicks: “I’m sure the manager, the staff, us as players, me and Lloydy as vice-captain, the leadership group, we’ll get on the boys this week and we’ll build and rectify the mistakes we made today.”
