For the second week running, the Addicks surrendered a lead and lost a match to late goals.

The Addicks totally bossed the first half and took an early lead through a sublime piece of skill from Ricardo Fuller. Cort and Jackson spurned opportunities to extend the lead and that profligacy was to come back to haunt Charlton.

Ian Holloway introduced veteran striker, Kevin Phillips, at the break. Phillips, so often Charlton’s nemesis in the past, was instrumental in turning the course of the game. Palace switched to 4-4-2 and were able to loosen the shackles that Dorian Dervite had put on Glenn Murray’s effectiveness.

Palace began to create chances and Murray struck twice in four minutes to snatch the points for the Eagles. Here’s how Chris Powell saw events unfold:

“The first half and even the first hour was some of the best stuff we’ve played but of course you need to convert your chances when they come.

“We needed to take more than the one we got because you knew there would be a response from Palace and someone like Murray, who has been scoring goals all season, eventually got his chances and he took them.

“It’s tough to take because it’s quite easy to forget about how well we played in that first 60 minutes. It was a proper local derby and chances at both at both ends and its just a body blow for us that we didn’t come out on top,” said Powell.

Charlton’s best chance of the second period came just before the hour mark, when a chip from Fuller had Speroni scrambling to acrobatically tip the ball over the bar. But as the match wore on Palace began to seize the iniative, leaving the visitors to rue those missed chances. Powell continued:

“We cant talk about that (the missed chances) now. Of course you want that and it puts you in an even stronger position because I felt we put them on the back foot and really caught them cold.

“They couldn’t really handle Ricardo Fuller and the way we broke from midfield but you do need to take chances, even at this level. We talk about the Premier League and one chance and it is in the back of the net but even at Championship level you do need to take the chances that arise and the chances that you make. We didn’t do that.”

Charlton have developed a habit of conceding late goals that will be a concern to the manager. The Addicks have let in five goals in stoppage time this season plus another three in the last five minutes. At the other end of the pitch, they have managed just a Lee Camp own goal at Forest in September and Fuller’s strike against Peterborough at The Valley, at the denouement of games. It is a trait Powell is anxious to cut out:

“I think it’s quite obvious how disheartening it is with regards to how it has gone in these last two games and how they panned out after being in strong positions, but I have just said to my group that we have got to learn from this, we really have.

“When you come to a place like Palace, or even when you are playing at home, all people see at five o’clock is the result, regardless of how you have played.

“So we need to start seeing games out and managing the situation when we come under a bit of pressure. That is always going to happen when they throw caution to the wind and you have to be able to withstand that regardless of formations or whatever.

“It is about the eleven adjusting to what is happening at that moment in time. It hurts after having such a good January and then, following on from last week, it is a very similar pattern and we need to arrest that straight away,” concluded the manager.

Charlton now sit equi-distance from the play-off and relegation zones. They have a tough month ahead, home matches with Birmingham and Nottingham Forest sandwich tough trips to Hull and Leicester.

The ’emergency’ loan window re-opens on Friday and it is likely that players will both arrive and depart from The Valley.