Curbishley tells Addicks it’s time to find goal touch

ALAN CURBISHLEY makes no apologies for the bore draws which have been sending Charlton fans to sleep - but admits it is time to rediscover the scoring touch.

Charlton face Middlesbrough tonight in their FA Cup quarter-final replay with a last-four clash against Alan Pardew’s West Ham awaiting the winners.

The Addicks head to the Riverside on the back of six 0-0 draws from their last nine matches, with the flurry of goals which marked the start of the season a distant memory.

Curbishley insists the change in emphasis to defensive solidity was imperative to avoid being sucked into a relegation battle but has warned his players they must begin hitting the target once again.

“It’s a long season and we had a dreadful run before and around Christmas. Something had to be done about that,” he said.

“I wouldn’t have been thanked if we were involved in a scrap down the bottom, getting beaten by three or four like we were. Something had to change and we brought in some new personnel.

“Football has so many facets - you’ve got to be in it to really appreciate that. It’s all right sitting up in that stand saying entertain me, I want to see lots of goals, but we were regularly getting heavily beaten and that wasn’t entertaining me, I can assure you.

“I wanted to do something about it and I’m sure my chairman wouldn’t have thanked me had we been involved in a relegation battle.

“If you look at the amount of games we have drawn then it’s about average, but they’ve just all come at the same time.

“The clean sheets have helped us back on track. Now that we’ve tightened up I want us to get back to being more fruitful in front of goal and start scoring some more.”

Charlton’s chances of setting up a London derby against West Ham are improved by the return of Darren Bent, who was rested for Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Everton.

Bent has been a revelation since his move from Ipswich in the summer with his 20-goal haul catapulting him into the England reckoning.

The Addicks have been guilty of over-relying on the 22-year-old, but Curbishley insists he is not the complete striker yet.

“Darren has a great work ethic but from the day he joined us he was like a breath of fresh air. We have to stop him training and push him back into the changing room,” he said.