PHIL Parkinson watched from the home stands as his Charlton side lost 2-1 to League One basement side Brentford at Griffin Park on Saturday.

Parkinson, given a two match touchline ban for his altercation with the official the previous weekend against Dagenham, witnessed the Reds stumble out the blocks against Andy Scott’s men and go two behind heading into half-time.

And while the visitors improved in the second half, pulling a goal back in the process, Parky made no excuses for Charlton’s first defeat in five.

He said after the game: "We looked like a team which had had a win on Tuesday and just thought they could turn up and play.

"No team in this division has got enough quality just to turn up and get the ball down and play.

“You have got to compete and roll your sleeves up and win the first ball and win the second ball first of all, and then play on the back of that."

He continued: "In the second half, I'd say we deserved a point because we took the game to them and it was a great response.

"But I'm still livid with the first 45 minutes because we shouldn't have got ourselves into that position.

"If we had approached the game in the right way, turned them round, rolled our sleeves up, been tight over the pitch, stopped strikers turning, stopped wide players running at us - all those basic things in football - we wouldn't have been 2-0 down.

“It would have been probably 0-0 at half-time and we then had that go in the second half which would have got us the win."

Charlton Academy graduate Myles Weston entered a sterling performance for the Bees against his former club, issuing a statement of intent with less than twenty seconds on the clock by sending a dangerous volley towards the roof of the net only for returning keeper Rob Elliot to tip over.

And 13 minutes were on the clock when a goalmouth scramble and desperate shouts for offside preceded former Millwall marksman Gary Alexander firing home from close range to draw first blood.

With the soaking conditions further frustrating the Addicks, Brentford doubled their lead on the half hour with a superb drive into the top corner from outside the box, with Weston providing the assist.

The arrival of Kyel Reid and Pawel Abbott from the bench after the break helped the meek visitors provide more of an attacking say in the London derby, though it wasn’t until 15 minutes from time that Charlton were able to get back in with a shout.

Reid’s cross from the left seemed destined to meet the head of either Abbott or Paul Benson, but instead looped just over both forwards and to the feet of top scorer Scott Wagstaff at the far post to volley the consolation low past Ben Hamer.

Parkinson apologised to the strong visiting support at Griffin Park following the result, which saw the Addicks drop one place to eighth and the Bees rise one from the foot of the table.

"I feel for the supporters who paid good money,” he explained.

“We spoke about what was going to be required, and in the first half an hour to 45 minutes we didn't do it and found ourselves with a mountain to climb - which we nearly climbed.

"I'm disappointed with the first half, very disappointed. It wasn't as if the way Brentford played took us by surprise.

“We'd spoken about the requirements yesterday and in the team meeting today an hour before kick-off. We didn't do what we needed to do."

Charlton: Elliot, Francis, Fry (Reid 46), Fortune, Doherty (Sodje 87), Wagstaff, Semedo, Racon, Jackson, Martin (Abbott 46), Benson. Subs not used: Worner, Dailly, Llera, Stavrinou. Att: 6,342