VALLEY chief Phil Parkinson admits he is unsurprised by the way the League One table has begun to take shape.

The Addicks made a perfect start by winning their first six games and have only lost one of their opening dozen fixtures.

However, they have only won one of the subsequent six, enabling the likes of Colchester, Norwich and the MK Dons to close the gap in the race for an automatic promotion spot.

Parkinson is still delighted by the way his side - who are still second in the table - have adapted to life in the third tier, but conceded the division has turned out exactly as he anticipated.

“Very much so,” he said. “You’ve got to fancy Leeds with the squad they’ve got and Norwich are the same.

“Then I’ve always said teams like Colchester and MK Dons, who have got rich benefactors who are pushing them to get promotion as well, are as equally competitive.

“I can’t imagine teams going to Colchester and sitting back like Oldham did to us.

“At the moment teams are going thinking they can win, playing an open game and getting turned over.”

Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Oldham was a frustrating result for everyone connected with the Addicks, but Parkinson was keen to praise the fans for their patience.

He said: “I thought the supporters were good on Saturday because it wasn’t our best performance, but in the main they stayed with us.

“I think there is an understanding of what we’ve had to deal with over the summer.

“Of course we’ve had a great start but we all need to stick together - the supporters and everybody.”

Parkinson added: “If we do have a dip, and you could class Saturday as a dip in terms of performance, we’ve got to not get too carried away with it but rectify what we felt we could have done better.

“It is the same when we win, we aren’t getting too carried away or sitting back in training on Monday morning.

“We are looking at the tape of the game and saying what could we have done better, what did we do well, can we work on it during the week in training and improve for Saturday.

“We’ve got to make sure we give our fans something to shout about. We need a bit more goalmouth action but we will be endeavouring to do that.”

Parkinson resisted the temptation to change his side against Oldham last week after his fringe players delivered an impressive display in the 4-1 Johnstone’s Paint win against Barnet the previous Tuesday.

The manager acknowledged he had been handed a dilemma in the run-up to the Latics game but added he still has been given something to think about ahead of this weekend’s clash with Huddersfield.

“Someone like Scott Wagstaff has got a good case to be disappointed not to be in the team,” Parky said.

“All the lads who are outside at the moment can do is train like they do every day, when they get a chance play with the enthusiasm like they’ve done and make it difficult for us to pick a team each week.

“I don’t mind if they do knock on my door asking why they aren’t in the team, but the best place to do your talking is out on the training pitch.”