CHARLTON boss Phil Parkinson leapt to the defence of skipper Nicky Bailey’s role in Jean-Francois Christophe being sent off during the Addicks 2-1 victory at Southend.

The altercation, occurring moments after the home side had earned a free-kick on the edge of the area, had Shrimpers boss Steve Tilson fuming post-match that Bailey fell to the floor faking being hit by the towering Frenchman.

But Parkinson believes that referee --- got the call spot on, booking Bailey for initiating the fracas and dishing out a straight red to Christophe for violently retaliating.

He said: “Nick ran over and did push a player out of the way and then Christophe’s run over and punched him so I thought the ref called that about right, Nicky probably deserved his yellow but it was also a definite red in my eyes.

“I know Steve Tilson’s probably moaned about Nicky Bailey but Christophe’s run over and punched Bailey and the only player that Southend management seemed disappointed in was their own player.

“When you run 20 yards and punch an opponent, you’re off the pitch and when someone that size punches you, you’re going to go down.

“Sometimes as a player you’re best off going down and then you don’t end up having a brawl, so Nick went down. He got punched, and that’s it.

“ It was a red card and I think when Steve Tilson sees that in the pictures tonight he can have no complaints.”

Not lost on Parky was the fact that the three points, regardless of the circumstances, were precisely what his side needed after seeing their form stammer over the last couple of months.

He added: “It’s an important three points. After losing to Brighton it was important that we got back to winning ways tonight and we did.

“A red card does often galvanise a team and the crowd were really behind them which almost galvanised everyone in the stadium to get behind them and obviously we conceded a very soft goal.

“It was uncharacteristic of Robbie as he pulled off a fantastic save just before that and it’s not easy playing against ten men, but in the second half we did it as well as can be expected.

“We passed the ball, we got the ball wide and obviously I’m delighted with the second half performance.

“I said to the boys at half time to relax on the ball, simply pass the ball to each other and when we did that in the first half we had chances, but we did that better in the second half, switched the play and made the extra man count and made the most chances.

“Credit to their goalie because I thought he pulled off some great saves and when the David Mooney chance was cleared off the line you begin to wonder if it’s going to be our night.

“ But it was, and Kyel coming on as a sub has made a huge impact.

“When you’ve got that pace coming off the bench when the opposition players are tired, of course you’re going to cause teams problems.Waggy’s done it in the past and Reid’s done it tonight.”

Parkinson also stood by goalkeeper Rob Elliot, who somehow allowed Matt Paterson’s strike to slip under his grasp and roll over the goal line, by paying tribute to his stellar reaction to the error as well as that of his team-mates.

He explained: “I think the way he responded in the second half says it all for Robbie Elliot and I think what was important was that the lads dug him out of a bit of a hole as that mistake won’t be as remembered now.

“If it had cost us points then more people would be talking about it but it’ll be forgotten, and there’s been times this season such as Southend at home when Lee Barnard had a great chance and Robbie saved it, there’s been many times when he’s made important saves to help us get points.”