Young hails Pards impact

Luke Young has hailed Alan Pardew's impact at The Valley, claiming there is genuine optimism in the Charlton camp with regards Premiership survival.

Prior to Pardew's appointment and Charlton looked resigned to plying their trade in the Championship next season, with the club struggling for any kind of form under then manager Les Reed.

Pardew, who earlier in the season was shown the exit door at West Ham, has installed fresh belief in everyone associated with the club and Young is confident that a great escape can yet be accomplished.

"After the Liverpool game (a 3-0 defeat), pundits on Match Of The Day called it the worst performance ever and people started getting on top of us and writing us off," said Young.

"It's not nice, you get reminded by other people. When things don't go right in football you're an easy target.

"At the time people were poking fun at Charlton at the way things were going, we've turned the corner a bit now and we're looking forward. The manager came in and things started picking up a bit.

"It's frustrating but when you're bottom of the league you expect criticism. There's no point in looking back, there are eight games and it's do-or-die time, it's massive for us."

Charlton's battle to beat the drop pits them with fellow strugglers Wigan at the weekend, with Young calling for a united front ahead of what could be a monumental game for his side.

"We still believe we have a great chance," he concluded.

"We never felt dead and buried but we knew things were not right. I was injured at the time and felt like I was on the outside looking in.

"The new manager made a big difference, the crowd were back with us and we built our momentum back slowly. Things got better from that point."