Breacker credits captain
Charlton assistant boss Tim Breacker paid tribute to captain Nicky Bailey as the Addicks earned a 4-2 win over Bristol Rovers in an eventful encounter at The Valley on Tuesday night.
The Addicks were looking comfortable after racing into a two-goal lead through David Mooney's close-range effort and a debatable Deon Burton penalty.
But, after Mooney had got in the way of Jonjo Shelvey's goalbound shot, Rovers went down the other end to earn a contentious spot-kick of their own, which was duly dispatched by Jeff Hughes just before the break.
The decision rocked Charlton and Rovers drew level early on in the second half when the unmarked Chris Lines headed home.
Yet skipper Bailey led by example and was in the right place to bundle Charlton in front, before substitute Akpo Sodje made sure of the points with his second goal in as many games. Not even former Charlton boss Lennie 'Houdini' Lawrence, now Rovers' director of football, could help the Pirates out of their pickle.
The win meant Charlton have hit nine goals in their last two home games, and speaking afterwards, Breacker told the waiting media: "We're delighted. We feel we've got goals in our team. Earlier on in the season, we had one centre forward and played in a different style.
"Teams came here and started to make it very difficult for us and games were looking a little bit stale. We've got a 'Plan B' now and it's good for us. The last two home games, the other teams have attacked us and it's been more open.
"We started the season with Deon up there on his own, with Jonjo behind him and we felt that was the best way to go. But conditions change; teams learn what you're doing, so we know we need different systems for different games.”
On Bailey's superb midfield display, Breacker said: "He's a good player, a good lad and a good captain. He leads by example and we're delighted with him. He scores goals, dictates the play and helps out defensively. He and Semedo in there together work to win the ball back, and in the wind and the rain, you need those types of players.”
Reflecting on the penalty decision which earned Rovers a way back into the game - awarded for an alleged foul by Christian Dailly on Jo Kuffour, Breacker continued: "I didn't think there was any problem from where I was, but I haven't seen it again. The wind was swirling around and there were challenges going in.
"The conditions made it difficult to play as we would like to. We knew we'd have to get the ball forward early and be in the position to win it back. Like the Milton Keynes Dons game, we created a few chances but you have to be careful you're not overly open at the back.”
Kelly Youga, who started at right-back in the absence of Frazer Richardson, limped out of the action early on after suffering a knee injury and was replaced by Elliot Omozusi.
Breacker, though, was hopeful the problem picked up by the Frenchman wasn't too serious, adding: "He got caught on his knee. He'll have a scan on Wednesday morning. We think it's more of a bruise than a twist and hopefully it will settle down quickly.”
Omozusi - on loan from Fulham - started shakily but appeared to grow in confidence as the match went on, making one excellent tackle in the second period.
And Breacker said: "He's not had a lot of football and it's hard to be thrown in at that sort of tempo. But we know he's a decent player and he made some good blocks for us. At this time of the season, squads are going to be tested and we need a decent one to do anything in this division.”
With Rob Elliot still sidelined by an adductor injury, Carl Ikeme was again between the posts for Charlton in what was the final game of his initial emergency loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Asked whether Charlton would be extending Ikeme's stay in SE7, along with that of Reading's Mooney and Sheffield Wednesday's Sodje ahead of Thursday's deadline for loan transfers, Breacker mused: "I don't know whether we can extend it. Robbie's getting near to fitness.
"Carl has gradually shown he's a top-class goalkeeper. He's got more confident and hopefully we can keep him all season, but we'll have to see. We'd love to extend David and Akpo's stays because they've both done well for us. But it's down to their clubs really.”
There was controversy when match referee Steve Cook booked Lines, with the Valley's video screen showing the Rovers man had already been shown a yellow card.
However, the Gas man stayed on the pitch and it was later confirmed that Cook had booked Pat Baldwin - not Lines - for fouling Miguel Llera to give away Charlton's penalty.
Meanwhile, Rovers boss Paul Trollope lamented his side's defensive lapses, adding: "After a poor start, the players showed a great spirit. To fall behind so early was a major blow for us and we steadied the ship but unfortunately our Achilles heel came back to haunt us.
"Some of our forward play was of a good quality, but the details of the defending weren't right at the time and it has cost us the game. There were a lot of pleasing aspects but you can't defend as we did.”
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