BRADLEY Pritchard believes the outcome of Saturday’s 4-0 FA Cup defeat at Fulham might have been very different had Bradley Wright-Phillips equalised early in the second half.

Trailing 1-0 to Clint Dempsey’s eighth minute opener, Charlton were presented with a glorious opportunity to restore parity after the break when Wright-Phillips found himself one-on-one with David Stockdale.

However, the Fulham keeper made a fine stop to deny Charlton’s stop scorer and Fulham went on to make the game safe as Dempsey completed his hat-trick and substitute Damien Duff added a fourth late on.

On Wright-Phillips’ chance, Pritchard said: “I would pinpoint that.

“We had a few chances. We all trust Bradley to normally put those away.

“It’s just one of those things, but guaranteed if he gets another he’ll definitely score that one.

“We’re disappointed obviously, we played well in spells, weren’t too overawed by the atmosphere and I thought in the second half we started really well.”

He added: “We tried to put them on the back foot but they are a Premier League team and if you give them any chances, they’ll take them.

“We had a couple of chances but we didn’t take them.

“Unfortunately that’s the way it goes, 4-0 doesn’t reflect it but we’ve got to take it on the chin.

“Our shape was good.

“When they had the ball we tried to keep them in front of us as much as possible and we created chances.

“There’s something to take into the next few games, which will be very important.”

Despite the result, Pritchard feels he and his Charlton team-mates will definitely benefit from taking on top flight opposition.

He explained: “You can’t underestimate the leap when you play a Premier League team, they’ve got world class players.

“You’ve just got to take the chances as they come, you can learn by being more composed and more clinical.

“In our league it’s a lot more fast paced and they wouldn’t give you as much time as Premier League teams do.

“This is good experience for everyone.

“We wanted a nice cup run but if it doesn’t happen, so be it.

“Our priority is the league and this won’t hinder us.

“We’re a motivated bunch.”

Pritchard was also keen to praise the contribution of the 7,000-strong Charlton away support who made the short journey along the Thames to cheer their heroes on.

He added: “They kept us going especially when we had a spell, they were pushing us on.

“They were our 12th man and maybe we needed 13 or 14 to keep up with Fulham because their movement was fantastic.

“From the minute we came out you could hear the roar.

“Our fans were fantastic.”

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