Stoke manager Nathan Jones rued his side’s ruthlessness in front of goal in their 3-1 defeat at Charlton. The Potters had the best of the chances at The Valley, hitting the woodwork twice and wasting a number of opportunities as Lee Bowyer’s side took the points. Lyle Taylor’s fine opener on 25 minutes was cancelled out by Tom Ince’s long-range effort, before second half strikes from Chuks Aneke and Conor Gallagher gave the Addicks their second successive win. Following their opening-day defeat to QPR, Stoke find themselves pointless and at the wrong end of the table, whilst hotly-tipped-for relegation Charlton sit second. “It’s frustrating,” Jones said. “We come away to a difficult place and we’ve created enough to win. “We created some glorious chances, hit the bar, hit the post, and then we got hit with a sucker punch, and it lifted them. “Even late on we had chances to get something out of the game, we have to be better. “There are lots of positives, we started on the front foot, we came out flying, but we’ve got to take our chances, which is the hardest thing to do. “We’ve got to change mentality and then confidence, because when we do play you can see what we can do.” By contrast, his opposite number was understandably overjoyed with the three points, although Bowyer was keen to stress they will not get carried away by a result which many would not have predicted. “It’s early doors in the season but it’s always nice to get points on the board early,” he said. “We can’t get too ahead of ourselves. “One game away, one at home, and the perfect start. “Last week at Blackburn was very good, and needed for the players to realise we deserve to be in this division. “Today was good for the club in general, the players coming back here, with the fans, building that relationship again “There were a lot here today who made a lot of noise and they’ll play a massive part this season.” Despite the perfect start, and unlike the jubilant supporters that watched on, the Charlton boss kept his feet on the ground and stressed what the priority was for the season. “We can’t get away from the fact our aim is to stay in the league, but today I can’t fault the players,” he added. “I’ll never fault them win, lose or draw because I know they’ll give me everything.” Bowyer admitted there were question marks over whether Taylor, who opened the scoring, would start the fixture. Having been the subject of up to eight bids from Championship rivals Brentford on deadline day, the forward’s ‘life-changing’ move never materialised, to the benefit of Bowyer and his Charlton side. “Earlier in the week I thought if we did keep him I didn’t think his head was right to play,” Bowyer said. “But I spoke to Lyle yesterday and if he’d (have) said he can’t play I would’ve respected that. “The opportunity in front of him was life changing, so I can understand how it could’ve messed his head up.“But I spoke to him and he said ‘no, I’m ready, I want to play, I’m here to score goals and win games’.” Topics Charlton, Stoke, Lee Bowyer, Nathan Jones, Championship, Charlton, Stoke Addicks do not see a future with Bowyer Charlton sign Ben Purrington on permanent deal Charlton close to takeover – De Turck Bowyer eyeing new dawn at Charlton after promotion Mark Warburton bemoans dropped points after QPR’s draw with Huddersfield Scott Parker hails Fulham’s bravery after edging past Blackburn Alex Neil pleased to see changes pay off as Preston ease past Wigan Lee Bullen hails wingers after Sheffield Wednesday beat Barnsley Two-goal Barnes makes the right impression on Dyche Sheffield United’s “Route One” style? Danny Mills, and lazy pundits preventing viewers understanding football better The 11 most desperate deadline day panic buys in Premier League history How to watch Liverpool vs Norwich and every other Premier League game this weekend Essential Fantasy Premier League tips Predicted! FourFourTwo’s 2019/20 Premier League table
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