Manager Paul Simpson spoke to us after today’s defeat against Charlton.
“I think the performance deserved something but we’ve given really poor goals away today” he said. “They get a bit of luck with the first one, it’s a mishit shot which squirms into Alfie May’s path and we haven’t reacted well enough.
“For the second goal it’s a throw in and we haven’t squeezed high enough up the pitch to make us compact which we were for long periods of the game. The third goal is a mistake, it’s one of those things, we’ve just got to clear our lines in that position.
“I would certainly say we were our own worst enemy for the third goal. For the first one he gets a bit of luck because we’re in good areas. Kanu has hit a shot which is going way wide, we got close enough to get a block but it happens to go into Alfie May’s path. You can’t give somebody like him opportunities like we have today because they’re going to punish you.
“I think the players have worked extremely hard today and probably deserved something out of it, but unfortunately we go away with nothing again which is the story of our season.”
“I thought we started the game really well and for long periods I thought we looked decent,” he continued. “Our shape was good and the plan we had was good, I was pleased with a lot of it.
“Harry Lewis has pulled off some fantastic saves to keep us in the game which you’re going to expect when you’re coming to a place like Charlton. They were six games unbeaten coming into it so we knew we’d have to do that. It’s just disappointing that we go away with nothing again for that magnificent support we’ve had today.
“There were a lot of good things and we can take confidence from the way we’ve gone about it today. I’m pleased with some individual performances, I’ve already mentioned Harry, I thought Dylan McGeouch got on the ball and passed it well for us. Harrison [Neal] had another good game, and it was good for Luke to get another goal.
“There were a lot of good things out there, and I don’t know if it’s a fine margin or a bigger margin, but we’re doing ourselves over and when you do that you end up with nothing.
“We asked them to keep being brave and I thought we were brave with the way we played. You can’t afford to give teams a leg up when they’re playing with confidence and a good home crowd behind them, but we’ve given them a leg up today.”
“Josh Vela has got a bit of an issue with his knee so he wasn’t fit to travel with us,” he told us. “We were hoping he was going to be ok and we were hoping he was going to be able to run today, but I’m led to believe he hasn’t ran back in Carlisle. We’ve just got to wait and see how he is for Tuesday. I thought Dylan came in and did really well for us today.”
872 Blues fans made the trip to the capital despite major rail disruption, and the manager commented on the fantastic support: “It sounds like a horrendous day for them, I heard that there were trains cancelled this morning and trains cancelled tonight. The rail service doesn’t make it easy for our supporters with the travelling they have to do.
“It was an incredible number who did make it down here, they stayed with us and backed us right till the end. I think they could see there was an intent from the players today to go and try and get ourselves back in it.
“We got ourselves ahead then got the penalty and Taylor stuck it away really well. I think the fans have seen a lot of good things, but unfortunately they’ve gone away as disappointed as we are again.”
