ADDICKS columnist MATIAS GREZ this week questions Tony Mowbray’s post-match claim his struggling Middlesbrough side should really be beating the likes of in-form Charlton at home.

IT was a bit like the Charlton Athletic of old on Saturday after we let a two-goal lead slip to add yet more points to the ‘points dropped from winning positions’ tally.

However, the disappointment of letting a 2-0 lead slip was lessened considerably after Nottingham Forest beat Millwall, making it mathematically impossible for us to reach the sixth and final play-off place.

Taking into consideration Middlesbrough outplayed and outclassed us in a 4-1 defeat at The Valley earlier in the season, our disappointment at getting just a draw against them on Saturday shows how far we have come this season, particularly in the past seven games.

Tony Mowbray did himself no favours in a post-match interview after the bitterness of his own club’s crumbling season came pouring out when he suggested Charlton at home should be a straightforward three points for his side.

Whether he is trying to play up his squad’s ability to the fans, or he is actually just that ignorant, is up for debate.

As I’m sure he knows, we have the fourth best away record in the league, behind only the top three, and before Saturday his team had won once in nine games, losing seven.

Chris Powell and his side are now undefeated in seven games and everything which has happened during this period is a testament to just how much gradual progress the club has made since the first day of the season.

More impressively, we have now lost just once in 10 games, with the only blemish on the record being that 2-0 home defeat against Millwall on March 16.

After the recent run of good form, it is important we continue to finish the season strongly with a win against an already relegated Bristol City.

The recent resurgence has shown everybody exactly what our club, but more importantly what our players, are capable of.

No doubt there will be a party atmosphere at The Valley on Saturday as everybody connected with the club has a lot to celebrate, in particular when you consider relegation was a possibility only two months ago.

Powell and the players have shown themselves in the best possible light over the year and have more than found their feet in one of the most competitive Championship seasons.

A win on Saturday will guarantee a ninth place finish, which I’m sure is more than even the most optimistic of Addicks fans could have hoped for at the start of the season.

Bar a huge swing in goal difference on the final day, we are also virtually guaranteed to finish ahead of Mowbray’s Boro, who currently sit three points behind us with a minus seven goal difference compared to our one of plus three.

Something perhaps for the dismissive Middlesbrough manager to ponder over the summer along with his own side’s spectacular freefall from title hopefuls to mid-table also rans in the second half of the campaign.

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