Hot Toddy Serves Up Reminder of Addicks' Striking Lineup

It took 67 minutes for Charlton to throw a second striker into the fray at Selhurst Park and a further seven minutes for Svetoslav Todorov to score the winner. For Alan Pardew, who had dropped the Bulgarian to the bench despite a cracking goal in midweek, it was a reminder of the wealth of forward talent he has at his disposal.

"It's his decision and you have to respect it," said Todorov, who had been sacrificed to tighten up a defence which had conceded five goals in the preceding two fixtures. "If it works or doesn't work he takes the blame. We are there to perform when we are on the pitch."

Pardew's plan to cope with the summer loss of Darren Bent has been to rely on safety in numbers - bringing in four players to fill the void left by one. The result is that the Charlton manager has firepower that few can match in the Championship. Izale McLeod (bought for £1.1m from MK Dons), Luke Varney (£2m from Crewe) and Chris Iwelumo (gratis from Colchester), Todorov's rivals for a spot in the front line, scored 67 goals collectively last season, albeit at varying levels.

"It's great to have competition," the Bulgarian said. "We have some young players in Izale and Luke, and Chris and I are quite experienced. It's a good mixture, so we'll see. I hope we go forward and we get to the Premiership. That's the goal."

The last time Todorov was a regular starter at this level - with Portsmouth in 2002-03 - he was the Championship's top scorer with 26 goals, and his predatory instincts were the deciding factor in a stodgy south London derby. When Julian Speroni's hesitancy spread confusion in his defence, Todorov kept a clear head to tap the ball over the goalkeeper and prod home his second goal of the week.

"We've got four top-line strikers for this division and we're going to hope that one or two of those can come up with the goals," said Pardew. "I didn't want to leave Toddy out but I just felt it would be better for the team. He's right at the top of his game and he changed it a little bit when he came on."

For Palace a season that started brightly has quickly darkened. Peter Taylor's side have not won since beating Southampton 4-1 on the opening day and the manager may be under pressure if results do not improve this month.

Man of the match Chris Iwelumo (Charlton Athletic)