Lee Bowyer wants to see his players maintain their strong starts in recent games as he looks to turn the Addicks’ fortunes around ahead of the visit of Blackpool on Saturday.
For the second consecutive game on Tuesday, Charlton made a bright start with Jayden Stockley heading his side in front, only for Burton Albion to turn things around, ultimately earning a 2-1 win.
And a frustrated Bowyer insists his players must take responsibility if they are going to improve their fortunes.
“We’re a good side and we showed that in the first half on Tuesday,” said the Addicks boss.
“That’s why it drives me crazy. It’s what I see in training but for some reason, we stop doing it. We see that it’s working, they can’t get near us, so why then stop doing the basics?
“We lost on Tuesday and it was nothing to do with shape or anything else. The second goal was lucky, but we have to maintain the way we start and take it through to 90 minutes.”
“Maybe it’s a confidence thing when we concede?” he continued.
“The goal is so avoidable. It’s not pretty and they know, as professionals, to organise. They have to take responsibility. They know they can’t do that. We can’t keep saying the same thing time and time again. If they can’t take that information in, something is wrong.
“The players need to see those mistakes. I know, as a player, that you have to take on that information. You can’t just accept that you’re doing well at all times, you have to take criticism.”
While Bowyer wants to see his players improve on the pitch, he also accepts that he is open to criticism and is prepared to take it on the chin during a challenging time.
“I’ve had plenty of praise, and now I’m getting criticism,” he said.
“If you want to take the praise, you have to take the criticism. That’s how you learn. If you can’t take criticism then, I’m sorry, but you’re in the wrong game.
“We need a bit of luck to go our way. People say you have to earn it, maybe that’s true. We just have to keep doing the right things and maybe things will go our way.
“I’m thick-skinned,” he added.
“I’m a strong person. I care and that’s why I was down after the game the other day. I care about the club and I care about the results. Things are better now because Thomas is here. Now is the time that we’re rebuilding and we all have to accept that, including me.
“My main focus now that we are rebuilding, is to move forward as a club. It doesn’t just happen overnight, it takes time to gel and we’re at that stage. We can’t keep getting 12/14 players every year and have everything run smoothly.”
Meanwhile, ahead of the game, Bowyer provided an injury update on Jake Forster-Caskey and Alex Gilbey, who have both sat out of Charlton’s last two fixtures.
“Jake will be back out doing some stuff out on the pitch today [Thursday] – he’s running, but he won’t be in the squad on Saturday.
“Gilbey will also be unavailable after straining his hamstring last week.”
