CHARLTON columnist MATT FRICKER urges fellow Addicks fans to quit moaning at their own strikers after Bradley Wright-Phillips and Leon Clarke both came in for recent criticism from the stands.

WHEN Saturday’s game against Rochdale was postponed, I went and looked at the fixtures list.

Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield’s matches both went ahead at the weekend meaning we are now seven points clear at the top of League One with a game in hand.

However, there’s 18 games left to go between now and May 5 and I honestly can’t see a week where Charlton could comfortably fit in a rearranged fixture.

Thankfully, Chris Powell has a very large squad, as demonstrated last Tuesday against Bury.

But do we really want to be relying on squad rotation to help us clear the final few hurdles of the season?

Last Tuesday night Leon Clarke made his first start for Charlton in the 1 -1 draw with Bury and I felt he suffered an unfair amount of criticism from home supporters.

Bizarrely, though, the abuse hurled at Clarke as he led the Addicks line was almost identical to the abuse directed at Bradley Wright-Phillips in recent games.

The slurs in question had nothing to do with race, personality or anything like that - both players were merely being called lazy.

In both cases I could see why the crowd were getting frustrated, as neither striker has scored in a Charlton shirt in 2012, although of course Clarke had only previously featured from the bench and this was his full debut.

But I have to wholeheartedly disagree either was being plain lazy.

It happens to be the case both strikers have had good scoring opportunities saved well by keepers.

For Bradley, it was ex-Addick Nicky Weaver who thwarted him as he went through against Sheffield Wednesday, while Clarke was brilliantly denied a first Charlton goal by Cameron Belford on Tuesday night.

Frustration in many ways is justified, as you expect your strikers to score, arguably more so when between them Wright-Phillips and Clarke have 23 goals in League One this season.

This said, if either fail to score, teams continue to frustrate us like Bury did and we have a fixture pile up as the end draws near, could it have a negative effect on our team?

I worry it could, but all we can do is concentrate on the next game, which happens to take us to Chesterfield – the club Clarke was at on loan for the first part of the season.

Here’s hoping for a 6-0 win, hat-tricks for Wright-Phillips and Clarke, or at least something to keep the boo boys at bay.

Come on you Addicks!

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