CHARLTON boss Phil Parkinson believes the changes made for the 1-1 draw with Swindon were for the best, despite the side taking a while to find their feet.

Parky fielded a 4-2-3-1 formation for the first time this season, with Jonjo Shelvey, Scott Wagstaff and Kyel Reid supporting lone frontman Akpo Sodje and Nicky Bailey and Therry Racon ahead of the back four.

However, the game was all Swindon until the latter stages of the first half, and it took a stoppage time equaliser from Bailey for the Addicks to salvage a share of the spoils.

But Parkinson was pleased with the effort put in by his players in the new role despite the slow start and what he feels was a disappointing lapse for Swindon’s goal.

He explained: “I felt that the way Swindon played and pushed on, the space was there for us to counter attack quickly with pace out wide and Jonjo just in behind Akpo.

“Obviously Akpo did his role and won a lot of headers and free-kicks but we weren’t getting on the end of them really, we didn’t pick up enough second balls around the pitch in that first 30 minutes.

“The way we thought we could hurt Swindon was with that extra man in midfield. Jonjo’s quality as well as Racon and Bailey behind him and Waggy and Reid with their pace out wide and it wasn’t until the last 10-15 minutes of the first half that it really came out.

“We could have come in 1-0 up despite Swindon’s dominance in the first 25-30 minutes which probably warranted a goal.”

Parky found himself making constant tweaks to the side as the game went on, which was brought on both by tactical changes and by unfortunate knocks such as a nasty head spill for Racon.

And he admitted that he hasn’t overseen many matches where he’s had to adapt the squad shape over the course of 90 minutes as much as he did at the County Ground.

He added: “Sometimes in that frantic opening of the game you’ve got to get through that, then it settles down and you can get a couple of passes going in midfield and I can see what we’ve talked about coming out. It did, but it took a change for us to go on and get us a point.

“There were all kinds of changes going on. Robbie Elliot had an injury to his hand and we thought the goalie coming off as well as all we needed!

“We’d used all three subs at the time and I was thinking of who we would put in goal.

“But Rob’s alright, we’ll probably have his hand X-Rayed on Monday but the early signs aren’t too bad.

“There was a lot going on out there but the lads kept cool heads on the pitch and that’s important.

“There are a few things regarding Swindon’s goal that we’ll question. The lads were honest and whoever was marking the man knows he’s got to do better in that particular situation but we’ll look at that again.

“We conceded from a set play against Walsall and we’ve got to be strong. Set plays are important but over the course of the season we’ve generally been good.”