Lee Bowyer was not happy with referee Darren Bond and his two asisstants following Charlton’s 1-0 loss to Reading.
The Addicks had 62 per cent of possession and 16 shots at goal but were denied at least a share of the points by a combination of poor decisions from the officials and missed chances.
Chuks Aneke scored what looked like a fair goal in the first half, only for it to be ruled out for offiside. In the second half Jake Forster-Caskey appeared to be fouled in the opposition’s box, only for a free kick to be given the other way.
Speaking after the game Lee Bowyer said: “I’m disappointed again. It’s another game that we should have got something from. We haven’t really done much wrong. They get a penalty early on and then after that I thought we were the better side, we created more clear-cut chances again and decisions have cost us. The officials have cost us the game today, it’s plain and simple.
“Chuks Aneke, his goal is a goal. I said to the fourth official that the linesman can’t just guess, you have to be 100% right on these decisions. These are big moments. There are careers on the line, at this stage of the season. My players gave everything and they haven’t got their rewards. If their penalty was a penalty then so was ours, because Jake got dragged to the floor, and it is a penalty.
“You’ve got the offside, you’ve got the penalty and both times, for whatever reasons [the decisions have gone against Charlton] – I would love to see what he puts in his report, because I know my report isn’t going to be good for him. Someone has to look at his decisions today and something has to be done because that wasn’t up to scratch All of them, the ref and the two linesmen were not good enough today. You can say that has cost us but Macauley has to score. We can’t keep missing chances like that.”
Despite the missed chances, Bowyer was pleased with his team.
“They are a good group,” he said, “they keep pushing and pushing and fighting for everything, right to the end, they don’t deserve what happened today. I’m very disappointed because we played well I thought.
“Today’s game was a game that I was hoping we would pick up three points. We did enough to win the game, we did enough and for one reason or another we’ve come away with nothing again. We’ve got three games to go and we’ll keep fighting to the end. Wednesday becomes a game against Birmingham and hopefully we get a decision or two go our way.”
Bowyer's full post-game press conference will be on Valley Pass later this evening.