Peeters rues 'bad day at the office' as Charlton lose at Blackburn

Jordan Cousins gave the ball away after six minutes, and Rovers striker Jordan Rhodes was put through to place past Nick Pope.

A long ball was then misjudged by Tal Ben Haim as Pope’s weak challenge on Rhodes allowed the Scot to round the young goalkeeper and double the hosts’ lead.

Pope did well to prevent Jason Lowe extending the lead before half-time and Peeters’ side improved after the break. But more possession did not result in clear cut chances for Charlton, and Blackburn earned a comfortable victory.

“A bad day at the office,” Peeters said.

“We had a lot of info, a lot of analysis about the way they play. 

“We said first 15 minutes, ‘We know they’re going to get physical, they’re going to come at us’. 

“It started with a few balls. The crowd was putting pressure on Nick Pope because they saw the game last week. We need to give him confidence. 

“When you’re under pressure you make some mistakes. They punished us two times and at that 
moment the game was finished, because second half we matched them up and we were the better team. It was not good enough.”

Both goals came from Charlton mistakes, but Peeters felt his side should have been prepared for the pressure the hosts applied.

“The goals we conceded was typical of the way they wanted to play, what they were all about. 

“We played with a lot of young guns. If you play against physical sides it’s also a lack of experience. We can only learn by that.

“We started with the wrong mentality. For me, that’s the first time my team started with the wrong mentality.

“Normally, my players give me everything and that’s what we lacked first 15 minutes. When you go away to Blackburn, it’s a long trip and you can’t give the game away within 15 minutes.”

Left back Morgan Fox was, unusually, replaced after only 29 minutes.

“I think Morgan was struggling a bit,” Peeters said. “He’s a young gun and he hasn’t played his best games the last few weeks. 

“I wanted more pressure on (Alex) Baptiste, so I put the more experienced Solly up against Baptiste. 

“At that moment the game turned a bit and they weren’t as dangerous anymore, sometimes you need to upset players to get a bit more of a grip in the game.”

Charlton’s limited striking options were again evident when the inexperienced Joe Piggott was introduced from the bench at half-time. 

Peeters, however, would not respond to speculation that Standard Liege striker Tony Watt may join the club next month.

“For me, the most important thing is the game, I want to talk about the game not about what might happen or who might come in. 

“We wanted a bit more physical presence up front instead of two runners, so I brought Piggott on to hold up the ball a bit more, to make it more physical. Our bench, we only have young players.”

Peeters also revealed that, beyond the possible return of captain Johnnie Jackson, he doesn’t expect Charlton’s injury problems to improve in the coming weeks.

“Johnnie Jackson might come back but he would be the only one,” he said. 

“We still have Rhoys Wiggins out, and Franck Moussa. We don’t have a big squad already. 

“At this time of the season it’s a difficult period, and we lacked some presence. Jackson with his experience, with his physical presence. 

“But you can talk about it as much as you want, when you don’t have the players you do it with the players you have. We need to patch them up and go to the next game.”

Charlton host Cardiff City on Friday.

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