Fortune played through pain

Jonathan Fortune played despite a broken nose against Bolton on Saturday.

The young stopper was struck in the face by the ball early on in the Premiership clash although continued to stay on the field of play, and Curbishley was unhappy with the treatment he received from Bolton striker Kevin Davies.

The 24-year-old played on through the pain to no avail as Sam Allardyce's side ran out 2-1 winners thanks to El Hadji Diouf's strike, and the Charlton boss revealed that he spoke to the referee at half time after what he perceived to be unfair decisions.

Charlton are currently suffering from an extended injury list, although Curbishley refused to make excuses for the club's recent run of bad form that has seen them slip away from European contention.

"Jon bust his nose in the first few minutes of the game, the ball was smacked at him," Curbishley told the club's official website.

"I was really disappointed because Kevin Davies kept backing into him and pinning him and I think a lot of decisions went against us, at half time I asked the ref to be a bit fairer on us.

"We've got a few injuries at the moment, [Radostin Kishishev] was pressed into action with a broken nose while Luke [Young] has got a calf injury.

"He has got a chance for Wednesday's game against Aston Villa though, when Talal El Karkouri will be back from his suspension.

"Shaun Bartlett has had his knee cleaned out and will be available for the last game of the season, while Kevin [Lisbie] has been ill for about four or five days.

"But I'm not going to use that as an excuse, we had enough about us to get something from the game."

The Addicks currently lie three points shy of seventh placed Tottenham after enjoying a solid season to date, and Curbishley has not yet given up hope of gaining entry to next seasons Uefa Cup.

With both Manchester United and Arsenal reaching the FA Cup final an extra league place has been allocated for Europe's second cup competition, and the Charlton boss believes that if his players continue to work hard seventh place is not out of the question.

"If we can win at Villa Park then go and pick something up at Norwich we'll be back in there," Curbishley told Sky Sports News.

"If it goes down to seventh, we don't know if it's going to go down to seventh but Arsenal versus Manchester United in the final so they may decide that's the case, for sure we've still got a chance but we need to win some games.

"We haven't won any of the last four so perhaps it's going to turn around for us.

"That's what we've stressed to the players today, if they keep applying themselves and give us a chance it will turn round."

Curbishley also indicated that, with Premiership status safely secured, he has already begun his planning for next season.

"I think any manager who knows that he's a Premiership club can start seriously thinking about next year."