Midfielder Jake Forster-Caskey has called on Charlton Athletic’s players to be far sharper in both boxes as late goals have taken five points from us in the last three matches.
Goals inside of the final ten minutes of matches cost us a point from Oxford United, and all three points against both Doncaster Rovers and Bradford City more recently, and Forster-Caskey was clear that we’d have avoided those situations had we been sharper when it came to taking our chances, as well as not switching off in defence as games were coming to a close.
Speaking to the Official Site following the midweek draw with Bradford, the former Brighton man explained.
‘It’s frustrating for us and it’s frustrating for the fans. Off the back of the last game at Doncaster, we wanted to come out and get the three points against Bradford and put ourselves in a good position. In the first 45 minutes on Tuesday, we were brilliant and we can take confidence from that. But we know that we have to put two halves together.’
He added.
‘We knew they were going to come out and have a spell – they are in the play-offs for a reason. We dominated them for long periods but now we need everybody to stick together and to keep on going.’
Being more clinical at the top end of the pitch would reduce a lot of the nerves that seem to have slipped in when it comes to sealing up the shop as the game ticks to a close.
‘We need to score more goals – that’s evident. We haven’t scored enough. We can take confidence from Tuesday because we played well. We need to put teams to bed because it puts us all under pressure. When you’re 1-0 up you just naturally get deeper. I don’t think you can help that because you’re trying to defend a lead. If we’d got a second it becomes a bit easier to defend. We need to improve in both boxes.’
With a trip to Stadium:MK this weekend to face MK Dons, Forster-Caskey knows them well following two loan spells out with them during his time at Brighton.
He’s not the only one making a return to a former haunt either.
‘Reevesy and the manager have all been there. Maybe it puts a little bit more of an edge on the game because you want to impress. You always give 110 per cent in every game you play but I’m a Charlton player now and I love it here.’
