Charlton slumped to another defeat against bogey side, Millwall, on Friday evening.
A late Jake Cooper strike was enough to take all three points back to the Den, and keep the Lions on the fringes of the play-offs.
The defeat leaves the Addicks looking nervously over their shoulder with five games to go.
The problem for Bowyer is that without Lyle Tayloy – leading scorer and top of the assists chart – he has a gaping hole and no one to fill it.
Macauley Bonne has now gone ten games without scoring. In truth, it is asking an awful lot of him to step up from the National League to the Championship.
Tomer Hemed is a shadow of the player he once was, and has yet to open his account for the club.
Bowyer has also lost Joanathan Leko. Andre Green came in to replace him, but is not as good.
Conor Gallagher was a huge loss. A goalscoring midfielder who has not been replaced. Jonnie Williams comes into the same category, but the Welshman flatters to deceive. He is another without a goal to his name.
Aiden McGeady embroiders the picture like a beautiful butterfly. He catches the eye, but just when you think he will create something he fizzles out.
In the four games since restart, Charlton have only scored twice, both goals coming from corners. You have to go back eight games to Luton on 22 February for the Addicks’ last goal from open play.
Charlton held their own for much of the game, and had the best chance of the night when Bonne was clean through with just the keeper to beat.
It was a great opportunity that should have been converted, and the hosts were made to rue their profligacy nine minutes from time.
Dillon Phillips beat out a fierce drive from Connor Mahoney, but Cooper had continued his run on the outside, and was on hand to smash the ball into the roof of the net.
The Addicks huffed and puffed after that, but did not have the quality to break down Millwall’s resolute back line.
Bowyer felt the result was harsh, and said this after the game:
“I thought it was harsh we didn’t get anything from the game. It was quite an even game but I think we edged it in the second half.
“It’s disappointing not to come away with three points in my eyes, let alone without one.
“I thought that we got into some very good areas. If anyone was going to score it was going to be us – that is the way I felt.
“I didn’t feel like they were really hurting us or troubling our goalkeeper at all. It seemed to be us that were getting the chances and missing them, it’s definitely a tough one to take.
“I said to them that with the chances we created against Hull, we should have won the game comfortably, the chances we created against QPR, we should have won the game comfortably.
Cardiff, we created good chances there and today again, you can’t keep missing chances.
“You can’t be missing those chances because if you do, this is what happens in this division, you get punished, from nothing. It hurts, it hurts.”
Next up for Bowyer’s team is the tough trip to Brentford on Tuesday. The Bees are currently the most in form team in the Championship, and if the Addicks can take anything from the game it will be a real bonus.
But Bowyer is hopeful of getting a result:
“We’ll have to definitely be at it there because they are a very good side,” concluded the boss.
Charlton: Phillips; Matthews, Lockyer, Pearce , Oshilaja (Doughty 75); McGeady (Williams 75), Cullen, Pratley (Sarr 90), Morgan (Field 45); Hemed, Bonne (Aneke 64).
Subs (not used): Amos, Purrington, Forster-Caskey, Green.
Booked: Oshilaja (43 foul), Pearce (79 foul), Lockyer (95 foul).
Millwall: Bialkowski; Hutchinson, Pearce, Cooper; J Wallace (Williams 86), Romeo (Mitchell76), Molumby (Thompson 46), Woods, M Wallace, Leonard (Mahoney 75); Smith (Bradshaw 65).
Subs (not used): Steele, Ferguson, Skalak, Burey.
Goal: Cooper 81.
Booked: Molumby (30 foul), Cooper 36 (foul), Mitchell 90 (kicking ball away).
Referee: Dean Whitestone.
Attendance: N/A.