Lee Bowyer saw a “lot of things he liked” in David Davis after the midfielder made his debut in the 3-1 defeat to Stoke City.

The Birmingham City loanee, who arrived at The Valley on deadline day, played the full 90 minutes as he was one of two changes Bowyer made following victory against Barnsley.

Despite Charlton being on the wrong end of a result which sees them slip to 21st in the Championship there were some positives to be had – including Davis’ first start.

READ: Bowyer's reaction: 'We weren't our normal selves against Stoke'

Bowyer said: “I thought he'd done okay. I thought he won the ball to be fair, when he got booked and they scored from the set-piece.

“Okay, his momentum then took him into the player [Joe Allen] but that's part of the game. I thought the foul was harsh on him and the yellow card but he'll improve in the time he's here.

“For me, at times, he takes a bit too long on the ball and gets caught but yeah, apart from that I thought he worked hard and he gave everything that he had.

“Looked a bit tired towards the end but yeah, I see a lot of things that I liked.”

READ: Charlton's relegation rivals refuse to get carried away after win

Bowyer also confirmed that on-loan Sunderland winger Aiden McGeady stayed at home for the trip up to Staffordshire after becoming ill earlier in the week.

The Ireland international was also a deadline day signing and was on the bench for the Barnsley clash but was unable to join the squad.

He added: “He was ill on Wednesday, Thursday. He trained yesterday but it's not right, you know?

“I think he was so desperate to travel, that's why he trained, but he just wasn't right. It was the wrong thing to do to bring him up here. He was ill.”

Next for Charlton are Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night next week, who dispatched promotion-chasing Leeds United to go within a point of the top two.

Victory could give them some much-needed breathing room from the drop zone but they will find themselves up against it.

READ: Charlton's survival hopes suffer another blow with Stoke defeat

Bowyer said: “There ain't no easy ones. Stoke were below us and look how they've just played today. There ain't no bad teams in this division and you have to earn the right for any point that you collect.

“We're no different. We have to get ourselves ready, dust ourselves down … for Forest.”