Huddersfield Town manager Chris Powell reflected on a disappointing return to Charlton Athletic and admitted: “We were second-best all game.”
Now the former Charlton player and manager is looking for a positive response to the 3-0 Championship defeat when his 14th-placed side return to London to face play-off chasing Brentford on Tuesday.
A first-half free-kick by Johann Gudmundsson and a second-half double by Tony Watt ended Town’s recent run of bright away results (seven points from nine) and left them 14th.
Powell, who was making his first return to The Valley since his controversial sacking a year ago, denied the occasion got to his side.
In pictures: Charlton Athletic 3-0 Huddersfield Town
And with Charlton’s £5 admission offer swelling the attendance to 25,545, the manager said he was sorry the 2,151-strong Town contingent had little to cheer.
“We never got ourselves going,” said Powell, who got a great ovation from the home fans, who broke into applause in the third minute to reflect the shirt number he wore as a Charlton player.
“Everyone has history, and a lot of mine is at Charlton, but I don’t think it affected my players and I took steps to ensure it didn’t. To them it was simply another game of football.
“In terms of the attendance, you want to be playing in front of those kind of crowds as often as possible, and it was just a shame we couldn’t send our fans home happy.
“We have earned good points on the road with good performances recently but we let ourselves down in this game.
“There were flashes here and there, but overall we didn’t produce what I want as a manager and never really got to grips with a Charlton side who looked lively and dangerous.”
Powell is assessing the condition of 12-goal top scorer Nahki Wells, who missed the game at The Valley with a shoulder injury.
The boss said centre-back Joel Lynch is still not fit enough to return after the groin injury which has kept him out of the last six games.
Powell added that the 27-year-old has an outside chance of making Saturday’s home meeting with Rotherham United.
Brentford are seventh after their 1-0 defeat at Birmingham City.
