MANAGER Alan Pardew insists Charlton’s destiny remains in their own hands in their fight for Premiership survival.

Although fellow strugglers Wigan opened a five-point gap between themselves and the bottom three with Saturday’s 1-0 defeat of Portsmouth, Pardew remains upbeat.

Setting his players a target of 38 or 40 points, he said: "Our destiny remains very much in our own hands.

"Despite the setback of Saturday’s defeat by Chelsea, we’ll keep the momentum going because Sheffield United and West Ham have lost and I believe that five or six clubs are involved in this.

"We sent out a message with our performance against Chelsea that we’ll fight until the end."

Pardew confirmed that he hopes leading scorer Darren Bent will be fit for Saturday’s match away to leaders Manchester United while newcomers Madjid Bougherra and Alex Song will be available for their debuts.

"There is a chance that Darren will be fit while Madjid and Alex will be available but Luke Young and Andy Reid are not quite ready."