Addicks boss plots quick recovery on the road (From News Shopper)

Addicks boss plots quick recovery on the road

9:00am Monday 1st February 2010 in

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PHIL Parkinson believes his Charlton side are still capable of mounting a challenge for automatic promotion despite a disappointing week in SE7.

The Addicks are now eight points behind leaders Norwich and in danger of losing pace with the top two after picking up just one point from two home games against struggling Leyton Orient and Tranmere on Saturday.

This time last week, fans were optimistic their side could go top of the table with a victory against Leyton Orient but that has all changed and now Charlton run the risk of seeing the Canaries and Leeds pull further clear at the top.

Parkinson said: “It’s not ideal but we’ve got to regroup after these two games.

“We’ve got three away games now but we’ve got to make sure the next time we come back to The Valley, we’ve got some more points on the board.”

The Valley faithful booed the team off at the break and final whistle against Tranmere on Saturday and Parkinson is only too aware of the growing tension in SE7.

He said: “I’ve felt it for the last three games since we had a couple of games called off over the Christmas period and ever since Norwich went ahead of us.

“There has been an edginess which has shown in our performances, but we’ve just got to relax everybody down again because there’s a long way to go.

“It’s a natural reaction from the supporters and it’s up to us to change it.

"The only way we will is by getting a victory and getting everyone back on our side.

“If you look at the chances we had, such as the Tranmere goalkeeper’s save from Deon Burton, they’ve really got to end up in the back of the net and on another day that could’ve been a 3-1 victory.”

But Parkinson did concede it could just as easily have been Tranmere who took all three points back to Merseyside.

He said: “We’ve got to make sure when we go forward, we keep our concentration at the back.

“There were times when we let people turn and run at our back four.

“Tranmere came to slow the game down and we got caught up in that.

“As the home side, we’ve got to raise the tempo but we never really did that until the last quarter of the game.”

Charlton look forward to a trip to Walsall tomorrow night, another team in the bottom half, and Parky has emphasised the importance of getting ahead early.

“It does make a difference when you score early because it settles everyone down and that’s what we need,” he said.

One player who could be back in the side is youngster Jonjo Shelvey, who was not even on the bench for Saturday’s game.

Parkinson explained: “I just gave him a break today because I thought it would be good for him to watch from the stands.

“He’s certainly available for Tuesday but it’s too early to know what the team is going to be. He is a good player but he’s only 17 and needs a break.”

Miguel Llera was another player to pay the penalty for the team’s poor performance against Leyton Orient.

The manager said: “It was a tough call on Miguel because he’s done well for us.

“But when you have a disappointing result like we did last Monday, you have to shake the pack without disrupting things too much.

“In fairness to Sodje, apart from the own goal, I thought he had a good game.”