'Staying up is now the only aim for Charlton'

Charlton's trip to the Potteries promised a flicker of renewed belief but ended in another night to forget.

A 3-0 defeat at Stoke City told its own story, though the script felt painfully familiar - defensive implosions, a couple of half-chances at best and that sinking certainty by half-time that it was all over again.

When the teamsheet dropped an hour before kick-off, optimism briefly returned. The reappearance of James Bree brought comfort, Lloyd Jones' recovery reassured and the experience of Luke Berry added belief.

Yet all those flickers of promise were snuffed out swiftly, undone by two goals in the first five minutes (why did I leave that nice, warm, cosy pub?) and a third that goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski really should have dealt with.

Captain Greg Docherty had spoken passionately after Saturday's 5-1 home humiliation by Southampton, promising the team would put things right at Stoke.

Those rallying cries rang hollow by the interval as Charlton again found themselves beaten in all the key moments.

Macaulay Gillesphey looked uncomfortable at this level, Docherty himself and Tyreece Campbell struggled to impose themselves and, as a side, Charlton offered very little offensively.

Two matches in a row have now slipped beyond reach before the break.

The challenge of a cold Tuesday night in Stoke was taken on by 919 of us. We sang and backed the team until the end - the one redeeming feature of a grim evening.

Nathan Jones has plenty of credit in the bank and deserved and received our appreciation at full-time, despite this latest horror show against one of his former clubs.

Football is supposed to be simple: focus, compete, show the basics. Right now Charlton look more than a little unwell and realistically the recovery can only probably begin after the might of Coventry City has been faced.

The need to start accruing points in December is obvious, because survival - staying up, pure and simple - is now the only aim I'm afraid.