Charlton bank on a Bartlett boon

A goal scored in Johannesburg on Wednesday night could make all the difference to Charlton Athletic's prospects against Blackburn at The Valley this afternoon. The man who got that goal, Shaun Bartlett, also claimed Charlton's winner at Manchester City last Saturday and whenever he is on the mark for South Africa, he reckons, the goals tend to come in clusters. So, then, watch out Blackburn.

That Bartlett is in scoring form, indeed that anybody is hitting the net, is good news for Charlton, a club that have managed 11 goals in 14 Premiership matches. Combine that statistic with Blackburn's record of just five conceded in six away matches (of which only one has been lost) and it adds up to a tough old occasion for Bartlett and his mates.

However, the 30-year-old from Cape Town looked commendably jaunty after a session in the cold and wet at Charlton's Sparrows Lane training ground on Friday, considering he was less than 12 hours off a plane following his nation's defeat on penalties by Senegal in the annual Nelson Mandela Challenge.

There was still a glow around as a result of that Maine Road success, signs that the corner might at last have been turned. "We played very well as a unit last week and were confident we were going to get a result," Bartlett asserted. "The determination was good and against Blackburn it is going to be the same. Obviously, playing at home we have to get a result. What we need is a convincing one, 3-0 or whatever, give the crowd something to celebrate as well. I know they haven't been letting in many goals but maybe it's time that changed."

Bartlett had been invited to watch South Africa's rugby men in action at Twickenham yesterday, but those plans were abandoned in favour of another morning of training at Sparrows Lane, followed by some much-needed relaxation before he puts his new-found scoring streak on the line. "When this sort of thing has happened before I have gone on to have a run of scoring in five or six games," he smiled. "I will be more than happy if that continues."

Fully fit again after a string of injuries since his move from FC Zurich two years ago, Bartlett has known moments of despair with Charlton, mainly, he says, as a result of a tendency towards self-criticism. "Management always tell me I shouldn't take it too personally but that's the type of person I am. If I miss a chance I take it personal because I'm in the team to score goals. But scoring always gives you confidence, so I'm very high at the moment and that's the way I hope to keep it.

"The whole team are quite confident. Overall we have been playing well, but where we could have drawn games we threw it away. We knew we had to come out of that bad run and get a result. Now it is important to turn the season round in the next five or six games. Hopefully we can get two or three wins on the spin and get out of that bottom half. I don't think we deserve to be where we are."

Where Charlton could have been, had they not beaten Manchester City, was bottom of the table. Though this possibility did not outwardly disturb their supremely unflappable manager, Alan Curbishley, he did agree that "winning last week obviously made a difference. You can't carry on coming in on a Monday when you've been beaten, but it would be nice if we could follow it up because you can see what Everton, Man-chester City and Southampton have achieved by putting a run together.

"I said to the players, 'We know our season hasn't started yet. Can we kick-start it and put together two or three results?' If we can't do that we are going to stay where we are. But if we can, we will clear out of that area and then it's up to us to stay out of it. To do that, we have to put a run together, because it is too tight from the top seven downwards. Most of the teams outside that top group can beat each other at the moment, most are just a couple of results away from each other."

Now that the early-season disruption caused by a crop of injuries has been overcome and he can call, by and large, on a full squad again, Curbishley is confident of being able to compete, even score a few more possibly. "We haven't scored enough but I must admit we haven't made enough opportunities, either. If I had forwards missing goals consistently I would be looking at that area.

"The same with the defence, if we were giving the opposition loads of chances I would have to be looking at that as well. But we haven't. Apart from the Arsenal game, we have competed and ended up not getting as many points as we deserved."

Curbishley paid tribute to the way Graeme Souness has organised Blackburn. "They are one of the clubs that have really pushed on this year. Graeme has done a fantastic job. Yeah, they have had money to spend, but he has been operating at both ends of the market. It is one thing to have the money, another one to spend it wisely, as Graeme has done. So we have a tough game coming up."

But not an impossible one. As the club's website bravely trumpets: "Reports of our demise may prove to have been decidedly premature." Especially if Shaun Bartlett is in his carry-on-scoring mood.