Jason Pearce says Charlton will get Tuesday’s loss at Scunthorpe United out of their system by working even harder on the training pitch.
The Addicks fell to a shock defeat in midweek – their first zero-point haul in seven Sky Bet League One matches – and the skipper says that he and his teammates are intent on putting things right.
“Defensively as a team we conceded sloppy goals,” Pearce said. “We were in control but we gave silly chances away and we were hugely disappointed to concede five goals. When you score three times, you expect to win the game.
“We know that with a bit of hard work on the training pitch, we can get back to winning ways on Saturday.”
Only four sides in the division have netted more times than the Addicks this season and Pearce believes that if they can improve on the defensive side, Charlton will be challenging at the top end of the table.
He said: “We are scoring for fun at the minute so, if we can shut it out at the back, we have a great chance [of getting promoted]. At the moment, we’re conceding too many goals and it’s not good enough.
“If we want to be up there challenging for the top two, orin the top six, we must improve. We know that and we have to work hard on the training pitch to put it right and make it right.”
Charlton were left frustrated on Tuesday after the hosts converted a penalty when Pearce was controversially penalised for a handball inside the penalty area.
The defender said: “When we got back to 3-3, all of us expected us to go on and win the game but then the ref’s given a penalty against me for handball. I was only stood a yard away so that was a difficult one to take.
“I tried to have a word with the referee calmly, but he wouldn’t talk to me. It’s his decision so we’ll get on with it. It would be nice if he was consistent because we could’ve had a penalty at the other end.
“It wasn’t to be but, as I said, we’re going to work hard to put it right. We have a great group of players.”
Despite the result, the travelling fans were in fine voice and the captain was full of praise for the Charlton faithful.
He said: “I’d like to say thank you to the fans who travelled up and I’m sorry we couldn’t get a result for them. We’re going to work hard to put things right and go on a good run again.”