Forest boss Davies: We rode our luck early on

NEW Nottingham Forest boss Billy Davies breezed back into management with a 2-0 victory over Charlton but admitted his young side were fortunate after being outplayed in the opening stages.

"It's a nice start, but we showed our age in the first 20 minutes. Physically it was men against boys," he said.

"I'm very pleased with the three points, the commitment and work-rate but to compete at the top end the younger boys have to grow up quickly and we need men alongside them."

The hosts laid siege to the Forest goal for the opening half-an-hour but failed to find the target and were hit by two sucker punches in two minutes before half-time.

First, skipper Mark Hudson only half-cleared Matt Thornhill's cross, Paul Anderson scuffed a deflected shot back towards goal and Nathan Tyson was on hand to prod the ball past Rob Elliot.

Shelvey shot straight at Forest keeper Paul Smith as Charlton went in search of an equaliser – but moments later they found themselves two behind.

Matt Holland misjudged a back-header towards Hudson allowing Rob Earnshaw to nip in behind the defender and lob the exposed Elliot.

Forest were rarely threatened after the break but Davies now wants to add experience to the side he inherited from Colin Calderwood.

"When I looked at the bench with 20 minutes to go I saw a couple of babies next to me," added Davies, who almost took the Charlton job after Alan Curbishley left in 2006.

"My predecessor did a great job in getting this club to where it is now.

"But in my opinion, to compete at the top we have got to look closely at the squad.

"We are not going to dive into the transfer market for the sake of it, but if the right ones come our way and we feel the situation is right for us then we will do something."

Charlton are now seven points from safety following a winless run of 18 games, and Phil Parkinson has yet to taste victory since taking the role on a permanent basis.

Parkinson was unimpressed by his side's wastefulness in front of goal and also scathing of his defence.

"In the first 30 minutes we had numerous chances to take the lead, we didn't take them and then we gifted them two goals," he said.

"If you are a defender playing for us you might say how many chances do our strikers need to put the ball in the net, but any success is built on a resilience at the back and we gave ourselves a mountain to climb.

"But we will keep on fighting and keep believing."