CHARLTON manager Chris Powell admitted going down to 10-men made an already tough job all the more difficult against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Yann Kermorgant saw red after kicking out at Forest defender and former Valley loanee Greg Halford eight minutes before the break.

And a frustrated Powell explained the dismissal didn’t exactly help his side’s cause against the impressive visitors, who eventually emerged as comfortable 2-0 victors.

News Shopper: Ricardo Fuller

He said: “It was hard enough with 11 against 11 because I thought Forest settled very well.

“It was just one of those halves where we needed to get to half-time with our full complement of players so we could have just moved one or two things around.

“But once you’re down to 10-men, it is more a question of making sure we’ve got a tough rearguard to keep them out but sadly that wasn’t to be.

“If you have 11 players you can adjust and you have a chance.

“In the end we paid for it.”

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On Kermorgant’s red card, the Addicks boss agreed it was the right decision.

Powell said: “It was definitely a sending off, I was just a bit perplexed why the referee went to the linesman on the far side.

“That’s the only issue I’ve got with it because it was a bit bizarre, but it was a sending off.

“It was just red mist, it was a moment of madness from Yann.

“He takes a lot of knocks and doesn’t always get well protected, but I’m obviously not happy because we lose a key player for three games.

“We need as many of our players available at any given time because we know how tough it can be.”

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Charlton found it difficult to settle as the visitors bossed possession in the first half with some slick passing, but despite going a man down, the home side kept things level until half-time.

Forest would take the lead on 53 minutes as Radoslaw Majewski wriggled into the box to slot past Ben Hamer.

And Charlton’s keeper gifted the visitors a second seven minutes later after spilling a tame shot into the path of Henri Lansbury, who fired home.

Powell, however, felt there were some questions to be asked of the officials in the build up to both goals.

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He said: “I thought Wagstaff was pulled and maybe we had a chance to clear it, but he was definitely pulled and Dervite was fouled leading up to the second goal.

“But then there’s a mistake from my keeper, so I can’t say anything against that.”

The defeat was the Addicks’ eighth at The Valley this season and they now share the joint worst home record in the division with just four victories, something which the Charlton boss is desperate to rectify.

Powell explained: “I’m going to say now, we’ve got 12 games to go and I want all 12 away!

News Shopper: Chris Powell with former Charlton team-mate Andy Reid

“I know it’s not fair on our supporters but we’ve got six at home and we’ve got to turn that around and we can’t work it out.

“It is a shame because everyone knows if we had anything which anywhere near resembles our away form, we’d be a number of points better off, so we’re trying what we can to turn it around.

“We can’t say the pitch is an issue because other teams have to play on it and they seem to create and do what they’d like to do.

“It’s now something we need to do our best to rectify in our six remaining games.”

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