ALAN Pardew singled out goalkeeper Nicky Weaver’s penalty save as the turning point as the Addicks earned a hard-fought point at Ipswich Town on Tuesday night.

After Owen Garvan’s 37th minute free-kick trickled through a crowd of players and past a dumbfounded Weaver for the opener, the former Manchester City stopper saved Pablo Counago’s penalty after Kelly Youga had handled in the box.

And a further string of fine saves from Weaver preceded a Nicky Bailey equaliser eight minutes from time to ensure the spoils were shared.

Pardew claimed Weaver’s error for the opening goal brought out the best in him.

He explained: “We gifted them a goal that Weaver should have come for. I’m disappointed with that as it was probably the only thing he had to do in the half.

“We spoke about it at half-time. I told him that wasn’t good enough for a man of his calibre, it put us on the back foot and knocked our confidence.

“Ipswich came out and put on a golden little spell for 20 minutes and perhaps should have got a second with the penalty, but then Weaver stepped to the mantle.

“When a player gets criticised, you’re looking for a reaction and he had an absolutely brilliant second half.”

After Charlton had broken their seven-hour duck without a goal on the road, Pardew admitted the final third of the field had once again proved a problem for his men.

He said: “The problem for us was getting the goal. We didn’t create enough.

“I thought we defended well as a team and were very committed.

“Once we got the goal, I felt you could see that we were a completely different side.

“We are a team in recovery at the moment and the setbacks are difficult to overcome, but we did well to react as we did Saturday against Burnley.”

Pardew also acknowledged the growing unrest among the fans, as the collapse of the takeover by Zabeel Investment and Charlton’s run of just one win in eight has increased the pressure on the Addicks boss.

He said: “Our fans are obviously upset that the takeover failed.

“We had a bit of mocking from within tonight, so we’ve had to stand tall and be strong.

“It was difficult when we were getting mocked by the away fans and you’ve got to have strong characters and we proved that.

“But we need a win, there’s no doubt about that.”