Bob Peeters bemoaned Charlton’s luck after the 3-0 defeat at Ipswich Town on Tuesday evening. 

Charlton started brightly but fell behind when Tommy Smith was able to bundle home after a knock-down from a 31st-minute corner. 

The visitors started the second half in similar vein to the first, with plenty of possession, but were unable to convert their chances and Town doubled their lead just before the hour-mark.

Another set-piece was only half-cleared and David McGoldrick headed against the bar as the ball came back in, only for the rebound to fall kindly for Daryl Murphy, who notched to send Ipswich well on their way to a fifth consecutive home win.

Charlton, who dropped to 13th in the Championship, continued to plug away but McGoldrick added a third, lifting the ball over Neil Etheridge in injury time. 

Peeters insists that confidence is not low in his squad, despite the fact they have only secured one win in 11.

“It’s a bit of bad luck,” said the Belgian.

“You saw it today, with two balls saved on the line. Last week two times hitting the post. You can’t do anything about it. That’s football.

“They scored from their first chance. It was a set-piece. They score immediately. That’s the difference, why they are top of the league. 

“We showed last week in the second half that we are still full of confidence. 

“If you play games like that and even the home game against Ipswich, we could have won it. 

“We had a lot of chances to win a few games: the last four, five games. We need to continue and try to pick up a win.”

The 3-0 scoreline did not tell the full story, as Charlton enjoyed lots of possession against second-placed Ipswich. 

“They scored three times but if you see the game and the possession I think we did well,” he explained.

“You know they’re a strong side and have very physical players and a lot of good headers (of the ball). 

“At half-time I said we’re still in the game. We need to score a goal. Again, from a set-piece the second ball comes in and they score again, 2-0. 

“That goal cut our legs. We had some chances as well, especially first-half.

“The ball from (George) Tucudean saved by the goalkeeper then saved on the line from (Johann Berg) Gudmundsson. Second half, off the line. That’s the difference. 

“They have a strong team. They have very good strikers and if you see their bench as well, that’s why they are (near the) top of the league.”

Peeters set his side up with three at the back, a formation that served his side well in a fantastic second-half performance against Cardiff at The Valley on Boxing Day. 

However, an injury to American defender Oguchi Onyewu in the warm-up forced a shuffle of the pack just before kick-off, with Joe Gomez coming in to take his place.

“He was struggling with his hammy (hamstring),” Peeters said of Onyewu. 

“We trained on a system with three at the back and Oguchi was one of the people. Five minutes before the game he pulled out with a hamstring injury and you need to play Joe Gomez. 

“At the moment, we’re struggling with the fitness of the players because we have a small squad and a lot of players have played a lot of games already. 

“You know if you have a competition with 46 games you need a bigger squad than we have.”

Peeters was keen to stress that Ipswich’s chances weren’t arriving in open play, and only having three at the back was not a disadvantage to his side.

“I think except for the third goal when we were attacking as it was already 2-0, we didn’t give anything away except for set pieces.” 

“That’s also something that is important in football. Ipswich are very famous to have a lot of physical players who can win first balls and maybe finish it on the second ball.”

Charlton have struggled with set-pieces at times this season and two of Ipswich’s three goals came from dead ball situations. 

Peeters emphasised Ipswich’s aerial prowess is something that would challenge any side.

“That’s why they scored the first goal,” he admitted.

“They have six good headers and you can’t do anything about it when you have only two, three good headers. 

“We can’t do anything about it. If the ball is in the air and they win the first header then you can’t do anything about it. 

“We need to continue and try to avoid goals like that. 

“Ipswich haven’t only scored headers against our team, they score a lot of goals from set-pieces against every team. It’s very hard to defend it. 

“That’s why Oguchi Onyewu was very important, If he has to pull out then you lose one of your best headers. That’s football and you can’t do anything about it.”

The January transfer window is now just around the corner and Peeters wants to strengthen his side.

“We’re hoping,” he said.

“We have some possibilities where we can strengthen our team and hopefully we can get those players in.”

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