Pardew praise for McCarthy
Paddy McCarthy drew the plaudits from Charlton boss Alan Pardew on his return to Leicester.
Last Updated: 29/12/07 10:07pm
Paddy McCarthy drew the plaudits from Charlton Athletic boss Alan Pardew on his return to Leicester City.
The defender quit the Foxes for Charlton in the summer and scored a last-minute equaliser for his current club at the Walkers Stadium.
Though Pardew was surprised by the quality of McCarthy's goal, he praised the former Leicester stopper's performance.
Pardew said: "It was a good time for Paddy to score his first league goal for us. But football has these strange quirks.
"To be fair he has probably been our best player. He defended well and then topped it off with a goal.
"I don't know where he learned to do that overhead kick, but I was pleased to see it nestle in the corner."
Character
The Charlton boss continued: "It is a point in difficult circumstances in what was a stop-start game on a difficult pitch in difficult conditions.
"To concede the goal when we looked really comfortable, it looked like being one of those horrible days that you get in the Championship.
"But we showed character and dug in and got a point in the end."
Stephen Clemence had given Leicester a 78th minute lead and Foxes boss Ian Holloway was 'devastated' not to claim all three points.
"It should have been a victory," said Holloway. "But the players gave me everything after the break and I can't ask for any more than that.
"But we are devastated that we were not in the dressing room celebrating victory.
"We had no shape or balance and losing Joe Mattock and Collins John to injuries early in the first half did not help.
"Charlton are a so-called big club and this is the most patched-up team I have ever fielded and we got a draw - but we should have had a win."