Holland set for speedy recovery

Charlton were today boosted by the news that Matt Holland could return from injury in a matter of weeks.

The club captain limped out of Saturday's 4-1 defeat at Bolton with a twisted ankle and it was feared he could be out for several months.

Defender Luke Young missed three months of last season with a similar injury but Holland is hoping to return within a fortnight. An X-ray on Saturday confirmed the 30-year-old has not suffered a break and a scan today will reveal the precise extent of the damage.

Holland said: "There's no break there and we'll have to wait and see. It's a terrible way to start the season but hopefully I won't be out for too long. It's too early to say at this stage." The injury compounded a miserable opening day of the season for Charlton, who were humiliated by a Jay-Jay Okocha-inspired home side.

The sublimely gifted Nigerian scored two goals and created another two for Henrik Pedersen but Charlton made life far too easy for Bolton, passing sloppily and showing no stomach for the fight.

Manager Alan Curbishley was furious with his players and has threatened to make changes for Saturday's visit of Portsmouth.

"We turned up and got exactly what we deserved - nothing," he said. "Not too many of my players will enjoy training this week, apart from those that didn't play.

None of the players are safe, I don't care who they are. We can't have that again.

"The five or six players who didn't play and the one or two in the stands are the only ones who may be able to enjoy this week.

"All the hard work we did in pre-season counts for nothing and we're going to have to start from scratch. If we had attempted to play Bolton at anything they would've beaten us because we weren't at it.

"Our usual characteristics were non-existent and some of the defending was terrible. We got it wrong and paid the price. I never saw a tackle. Jonathan Fortune made a tackle in the 38th minute and I didn't see another tackle from one of our players."