Charlton Athletic captain Jason Pearce has said he wants to ‘put things right’, after his side lost 1-0 at home to Preston in the Championship last weekend.

A penalty from Paul Gallagher was enough to take Preston top of the Championship on goal difference, until West Brom’s win at Stoke City last night.

For Lee Bowyer’s Charlton, it was a second defeat in three games and his side dropped down to 10th with it - three points off Bristol City in 6th.

Charlton next face a trip to The Den to face Gary Rowett’s Millwall, Speaking about the upcoming fixture and the weekend defeat, Pearce said:

“As players we want to put that right. We’ll make sure we work hard in training this week and we’re ready for that challenge.”

Pearce, 31, is the club-captain. But Bowyer hasn't been afraid to bench his skipper on the odd occasion this season, and he aims to keep his best player up to match-fitness.

“If selected, it’ll be great to play against Millwall" said Pearce. “Last time, we were in League One when we played them home and away and I didn’t get to play.

“For the club and the players, it’s a massive, massive game. We don’t want to forget performances like [against Preston] because you need to learn from it.”

Charlton won promotion to the Championship through the League One play-offs last season:

“We’re new in this league” continued Pearce, “we will learn from it. We’ll make sure we’re ready for next week’s challenge.

“We have been putting good performances in against those big teams. That’s given us a lot of confidence. It’s going to be a real tough game and a massive derby game. We’ll make sure we’re ready.”

Bowyer will be looking for just his side’s third win since the end of August, but they face a Millwall side who’ve taken 14 points from seven home games this season.

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The verdict

Fewer places present a greater task than The Den - physically and mentally, it’ll be one of Charlton’s toughest assignments this season and Bowyer would be more than thrilled with a win on Saturday.

The top-half of the table is still tight, though it’s beginning to separate the promotion pushers from the not. A couple of wins for any team would throw them right back into contention, and that’s what Bowyer will be hoping for in the coming weeks.