Powell's men out performed their collective price tag last night as they more than held their own against well resourced Nottingham Forest at the Valley
So convincing was the display that Forest Manager Billy Davies congratulated Powell and his men in a visit to the home dressing room immediately after the match.
As we reported in our preview of last nights game, Forest have spent £5m last summer and £6m this year - With the Addicks spending far far less. Chris' men played for the Gaffer last night however and despite still missing 4 key players they made a real show of it, arguably only losing 2 points to a freak wonder goal in the first few minutes from Andy Reid.
Charlton had coped well in the first half, and at times looked comfortable creating a lot of opportunities in a very improved overall team performance. They then went on to compete well for much of the second half as year long loanee Marvin Sordell provided the equaliser early in the second half - he came close to adding to his tally as Charlton created an array of opportunities, and more than deserved to take all three points.
Although the game last night made the gap between the sides seem far narrower than it is - Forest did seem a little disappointing value for money wise - the early Championship table however remains firmly in view. Charlton lie 1 point off bottom place with 6 (from 9), and Forest are 4th with 19 (from 10).
Perhaps the question at the moment then for many fans is are CAFC competitive in the Championship? Powell's men will need to keep up the standard set last night, and a win on Saturday for could go a long way to steadying the ship in time for the international break and maybe a chance for some of the injured to get back into contention.
ACV
Elsewhere CAS Trust ran an evening stall for the first time attracting another 100 signatures for the Asset of Community Value campaign petition, and a dozen or so members . The news takes CAS Trust's network to over 4000 we believe.
Fill the Valley
We also began our Fill the Valley (in support of Football for a fiver) Campaign, with a number of fans collecting flyers to deliver to promote the Wigan match offer.
The Trust hopes to have a stall on Saturday again outside the ground, and you may also see us in local pubs and clubs. We need volunteers, so if you fancy helping please do get in touch email Richard Wiseman on secretary@castrust.org