Talking points from Charlton Athletic 1 Middlesbrough 2 - will Apter's instant impact earn Birmingham start and diamond midfield has flaws

Addicks' losing streak has dropped them from fifth to 19th in Championship table

CONFIDENCE LEVELS

“It is a key in football - the most important thing. That confidence can also give you how you play. When you don’t have it, you need to try to create it in some way. There will come times we lose a lot of games, or two in a row, and it is how we keep that confidence high.”

Those are not words uttered by Nathan Jones, but his opposite number Kim Hellberg after last night’s match.

The Swede was speaking after watching his buoyant Boro side make it three wins on the spin since he replaced Rob Edwards as head coach.

Despite that perfect start, Hellberg still recognises that things can go from brilliant to bad. Charlton are definitely finding that at the moment. Tuesday’s
2-1 defeat to the second-placed Teessiders made it five league losses in a row for the first time since February 2022.