Inside View with Charlton Athleitc striker Nathan Ecclestone
Published: 08:00, 24 March 2011
Before Tuesday night’s draw against Southampton, when I was asked about our recent run of poor form and results, I mentioned that you need a bit of luck in football.
An answer like that can seem like you are avoiding the question but thankfully, the match against the Saints proved my point.
Of course, you make your own luck but when you’ve conceded what turned out to be the only goal of the game via two deflections (against Notts County last month), I think you’re entitled to expect things to balance out sooner or later.
Things looked to be going true to form when the referee decided Miguel Llera’s header hadn’t crossed the line when most people in the stadium – and especially Miguel – thought it had.
Credit to the referee and his assistant, though, the pictures later showed that it hadn’t – and then the officials ruled out what looked to be an onside goal in stoppage time which would have given Southampton victory.
So maybe things are starting to turn our way.
I don’t think the results have reflected how we’ve performed, though. It’s hard to put my finger on why we’re on this poor run.
We’re not doing anything differently to what we were doing when winning games.
We’ve only been outplayed in one or two games – things just have not gone for us in the other matches.
Of course, we shouldn’t overly celebrate one point. But we have to stop our poor run somehow and now it’s up to us to build on that against AFC Bournemouth on Saturday and Rochdale next Tuesday – two difficult away games.
I haven’t played as much as I would have liked and it’s frustrating when you’re not playing regularly as a footballer.
But all I can do is be patient. I’ve spoken to the manager. He’s told me I’m still firmly in his plans and, with 10 games left, he says I’ll play a part.
I’ve finally settled into a place down here in Chislehurst and it’s nice to have somewhere I can call home for the next couple of months. I was getting pretty tired of living out of a suitcase in a hotel in Bexleyheath.
This is the first time I’ve really been away from home. At Liverpool, when foreigners would moan that they were homesick, I didn’t really understand. But now I’ve been away myself, you can see why they find it tough.
At times, it has been difficult But the lads have helped me out and Chris Powell’s been good. He’s given me a couple of extra days off here and there because he understands that I’m a young lad away from home for the first time.
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KentOnline reporter