Speaking after Charlton’s 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest, Lee Bowyer expressed his mixed feelings on the draw and praised Erhun Oztumer’s ‘outstanding’ debut.
An interview with Lee Bowyer will be on Valley Pass later this evening. Valley Pass costs just £6.50 per month or £60 for the year and you can sign-up here.
Speaking about the draw, Lee Bowyer was keen to praise his side’s performance in what he said was the "best 45 minutes" he had seen since the start of his tenure.
He said: “I just said to the lads that I feel sorry for them. We deserved more. And this is why this game is ruthless, if you don’t take your chances anything can happen.
“I don’t know what happened for their goal, I think it’s come off someone and dropped to their man from a set piece.
“We deserve more. That first 45 minutes is the best 45 minutes I’ve seen us play since I've been in charge.
“I just told the lads ‘hold your head up high’ because if they carry on putting in performances like that, then we’ll win a lot more games than we’ll lose or draw.”
Despite the display, Bowyer expressed his frustration with the draw: “I’m disappointed with the point but it was just good to see the way that we played and moved the ball and worked and pressed from start to finish.
“In the first half I think we should have been two or three up and maybe another two at least in the second half with clear cut chances, chances that we should be taking in areas that we were in. I think in the first two minutes we could have scored two goals. I think we hit the post and then someone blocked one on the line. There was loads of chances, but you have to put the ball in the back of the net and if you don’t there’ every chance the other team can score a goal from nothing and that is what happened tonight.
“I’m disappointed but it was great to watch. I brought in three changes [to the squad] from Saturday and they were all outstanding. Naby [Sarr] was outstanding, Sam Field in the first half was outstanding in front of the back four. [Erhun] Oztumer too.
“So, I’m over the moon.”
Erhun Oztumer introduced himself to the Addicks fans with a classy performance under the lights and Bowyer was quick to praise his new signing.
Bowyer commented: “It was on 60 minutes that we brought him off but he was so clever, so good with the ball at his feet. His vision and awareness, like I said, we’ve got a bit of everything. He worked hard out of possession and won the ball back a few times. He’s a good player to have in our squad.
“I’ve got to use the squad wisely I believe in every single player that we’ve brought in. Jonny Williams was outstanding… but why would I risk Jonny after Saturday where that was the first 90 minutes for us, so why would I risk him on Wednesday where he could get injured and then be out for three to four weeks and not be any good for Saturday. Now Oztumer has come in and had a taste, Jonny will come back in on Saturday, one hundred percent. Did I make the right decision? Yeah, I believe so. Ozzy didn’t let us down. He brought us something different, now Jonny doesn’t miss out on Saturday, which is perfect.”
An interview with Lee Bowyer will be on Valley Pass later this evening. Valley Pass costs just £6.50 per month or £60 for the year and you can sign-up here.
