Bowyer: Four more wins will give Charlton ‘a small chance’ of top-two finish

Charlton boss Lee Bowyer believes his side still have a “small chance” of finishing in the automatic promotion spots in Sky Bet League One following their impressive 3-1 win over leaders Luton.

After the Addicks fell behind to a 15th-minute Harry Cornick strike, a second-half brace from Lyle Taylor either side of Igor Vetokele’s precise finish extended the home side’s unbeaten run to 11 matches.

Luton midfielder Andrew Shinnie saw red after a second yellow card late in the match but the damage was already done as Town suffered their first league defeat since October.

Charlton are now fifth in the standings, eight points behind Luton and three behind second-placed Barnsley with four games remaining .

When asked whether or not his team could finish in the top two, Bowyer said it was possible, but suggested they would need to extend their current four-match winning streak right to the end of the campaign.

“There’s a small chance,” he said. “If we win all four, we might be given a slight chance. It’s in the others’ hands really.

“We need three to mess up. Is it possible? Yes. They’ve all got tough games, but so have we. I believe we can win the next four. I said that with 10 to go and we’re nearly there.

“But we’ve got to just keep concentrating on what we’re doing, and trying to win games and if we do that then if someone wants to give us a chance then we’ve got to be there to grab it.”

Bowyer was also full of praise for his game-winning strike partnership of Taylor and Vetokele, who combined for Charlton’s third goal.

“I think his all-round play has improved,” Bowyer said of Taylor. “He’s fitter, quicker, stronger, his awareness is better.

“He’s always been a good finisher but I think as a package as a striker, he’s improved all over.

“Tuesday (1-0 win at Wycombe) was the best that Igor had played for me, and today he’s just topped it.

“I’m glad that he’s fit now, he got thrown in the deep end. Lyle was injured, and obviously Karlan (Grant) was gone. Now he’s looking like the player that I’ve not really seen before.”

Luton boss Mick Harford was impressed by Charlton on the day, but was disappointed with the manner in which his side saw their 28-match unbeaten league run come to an end.

He said: “I thought that in the first half we started very passive, but after 10 or 15 minutes we got ahead and we should have been further ahead in terms of possession, chances, the way we played the first half of the game in particular.

“I just wish we could have built on the goal and scored a couple more and built a bigger lead.

“All fairness to Charlton, you’ve got to give them a bit of credit. I thought they were strong, they were excellent in terms of the way they grew into the game.

“But in the last 15 or 16 games, that second half was probably our worst performance in terms of possession.

“We like to keep the ball and we don’t like to go long. We lacked a bit of height and presence up top today.”

In particular, Harford bemoaned the decision to award Charlton the 54th-minute penalty which provided their equalising goal.

“The penalty is an absolute disgrace in terms of the contact that was in the box. In my opinion it changed the face of the game.

“Without a shred of a doubt, he made the wrong decision.”

But the Hatters boss is not worried about the impact this defeat could have on his side though, as he is certain they will bounce straight back.

He added: “The players, they’ve been on a magnificent run. They’re a fantastic bunch and they’ll bounce back 100 per cent.”