CHARLTON boss Chris Powell admits his side paid the price for not taking their chances at the Reebok.

Lawrie Wilson, Yann Kermorgant and Danny Haynes all spurned decent opportunities before Dougie Freedman sent on David Ngog to inflict the killer blow.

And while former England full-back Powell was complimentary about the man who settled the game – he reckons his side should have been ahead by the time the Frenchman entered the fray.

“I felt we kept the ball well and created the better openings, but, of course, you need to take them,” he said.

“We came to a place like Bolton, and played a team who were in the Premier League last year with some good, good players and I felt we more than matched them.

“But you need to take them chances when they arrive and if you don’t, then you can get hurt by a player who has good pedigree.

“I felt he took his goals very well. These are vital moments, key moments where we needed to take the chances that came our way and obviously Ngog took the chance that came his way.”

Charlton had been undefeated in seven games before arriving in the North West and Powell believes his gameplan to stretch that to an eighth game nearly came off.

“It's a shame because we had been on a good run away from home and confidence was high and for the larger part of the game we were the better team,” he said.

“Of course, you try and nullify the strengths of the opposition, but also on top of that you need to be positive going forward.

“You can’t just hold out for 90 minutes and I felt we got that right. I felt we got the right balance between defending and also going on the counter or even in general play.”