A disappointed Lee Bowyer branded his side’s performance in the 1-0 defeat at Rochdale as “not good enough”.
The Addicks lost out to Ian Henderson’s early goal at the Crown Oil Arena on Saturday and never recovered despite hitting the woodwork twice and Lyle Taylor having a first-half penalty saved.
And speaking following the frustrating result in Greater Manchester, the Charlton boss admitted that he questioned his players’ attitude in the dressing room immediately after the full-time whistle.
“It wasn’t good enough,” he explained.
“First half, we were very poor. We didn’t compete, we didn’t pass the ball and everything we’re good at we just didn’t do. I don’t know whether we thought we could just turn up and be handed three points, but that isn’t football.
“I’ve just questioned their attitude. Because you can’t do what they did against Barnsley, the best side in the league that we’ve played, and then go and get one point out of six against Oxford and Rochdale. That’s just wrong, so I’ve questioned them and their attitude because, for me, that wasn’t good enough.
“We have to fight and compete as a minimum. We certainly didn’t do that in the first half.”
The Addicks also had a goal disallowed in the second period when Josh Cullen’s free-kick deflected into the back of the net, only to be denied by an offside flag.
But Bowyer insisted that the decision mattered very little in the grand scheme of things.
“I’ve not seen it yet, but it doesn’t matter,” he said.
“We missed a penalty, we hit the bar, the keeper made a great save from Josh. We had all those things, but we still didn’t do the right things, so it’s all irrelevant.
“It was slightly better second half, but still not good enough – not for what we are and what we’re about.
“It’s disappointing, but we’ll go again, keep working at it and I’m sure we’ll get it right.
Meanwhile, Bowyer was again impressed by the performance of Darren Pratley, who continued to play ‘put of position’ in the centre of defence and explained his inclusion by saying:
“Pratley was outstanding on Tuesday and I thought he was again today. That’s why I played him there.
“Krystian Bielik is normally good at sitting at the bottom of the diamond, but today he took too many touches and kept getting caught in possession. He needs to learn that you have to move the ball quickly because that’s the way we play. Not just him, everybody was poor first half.
“It was disappointing all round, but we’ll work to put it right.”