Late equalisers are always dispiriting for the side that concedes, especially if they occur in the 95th minute when the referee has signalled only four minutes of injury time and even that amount seems excessive. Nathan Ellington bundled the ball in from close range last night to shock The Valley into silence and salvage an undeserved point for an under-whelming Derby County.

Phil Parkinson, the Charlton Athletic caretaker manager, had already lost his voice shouting an instruction to Hameur Bouazza in the first half. “As kicks in the teeth go, that’s as bad as it gets,” he whispered afterwards, questioning why Andy D’Urso, the referee, saw fit to add so much time. “The players are low. Tonight they gave everything,” Parkinson said. Charlton’s winless streak has extended to 13 matches but they are off the bottom of the Coca-Cola Championship.

Adam Pearson denied before the game that Paul Jewell would be sacked today if Derby had lost. “He will definitely be the manager on Tuesday morning,” the chairman said. Jewell might have been feeling a fraction uneasy about the afternoon until Ellington struck, but the manager said yesterday that he had received assurances from Pearson about his future.

Andy Gray gave Charlton a first-half lead that was cancelled out by Ellington from the penalty spot in the second period after José Semedo’s handball. Martyn Waghorn swiftly restored the advantage with his first career goal and then Charlton’s nerves set in, with good reason as it turned out.

Jewell declared himself “very annoyed” with his team, who arrived late in southeast London after traffic jams at the Blackwall Tunnel forced them to cross the Thames via the Woolwich Ferry. “We were rubbish but we’ve got a point. We’ve got to try and get over this crisis of confidence,” he said.

Charlton Athletic (4-4-2): R Elliot — M Cranie, J Fortune, M Hudson, G Basey — L Sam (sub: K Gillespie, 81min), N Bailey, J Semedo, H Bouazza — M Waghorn (sub: D Burton, 79), A Gray. Substitutes not used: N Weaver, K Youga, S Todorov.

Derby County (4-4-2): S Bywater — P Connolly, D Powell (sub: J Tomkins, 71), M Albrechtsen, J Stewart — G Teale, R Zadkovich (sub: G Barnes, 54), M Addison, P Kazmierczak (sub: K Commons, 46) — N Ellington, L Varney. Substitutes not used: L Price, E Villa. Booked: Connolly, Powell.

Referee: A D’Urso.