Nathan Jones admitted his side "weren't good enough" as the Addicks lost 2-1 to Crawley Town at The Valley.
Daniel Kanu's 68th minute leveller gave the home fans hope but Max Anderson netted with 10 minutes remaining to secure three points for the visitors.
“We weren’t good enough,” said Jones speaking post-game. “Especially in the first-half, second-half we had a bit more of a go, but we didn’t show enough quality in our play. We didn’t show enough tempo or aggression. They showed better quality than us, we had more shots, but they had more on target, we had three out of 11 on target whereas they had six out of seven. We’ve been beaten from distance again and a shot that’s been parried that we didn’t follow in, we have not been anywhere near the levels we need to be, that is why we have lost the game.”
The Addicks headed into tonight’s defeat having won their previous two fixtures on the road against Burton Albion and Walsall. Jones said his side need to become more consistent.
He said: “We had a lot of chances and shots, we snatched at a lot. When anything fell for us, we snatched at it, and we put more into the stand than we did at their goalkeeper. We didn’t take advantage when we were in the final third, that is categorically different to what happened at the weekend. That is why we lost the game; we weren’t good enough tonight and I take responsibility for that.”
Jones’ midfield options were limited with Luke Berry and Greg Docherty both facing suspension, while Karoy Anderson missed the game with a tight hamstring.
The game did see goalscorer Kanu and Lloyd Jones come off the bench for their first minutes since the Addicks beat Birmingham City in October.
“We had the two midfielders suspended in terms of Doc and Berry. Karoy had a tight hamstring, so we did not risk him," he said. "It was good to see DK [Kanu] come back with a goal and also Lloyd who has been out for a considerable amount of time.”
The Addicks return to league action on Saturday to take on Lincon City. Jones said that his side's performance must improve at the weekend, with another tough fixture on the cards.
He said: “We need a better performance than that, and we demand a better one than that all the time. We are being inconsistent; we aren’t showing enough consistency. Every time someone shoots from distance it either goes in or something happens.
"We have defended the box relatively well on most occasions, it is just from distance. Huddersfield was distance, tonight, distance, Birmingham earlier in the season, distance.”
