ALAN Curbishley today called on his players to stand up and be counted after last week's humiliating defeat against Leeds United has put the skids under their European aspirations.

The furious Addicks boss dragged his players in on their day off following the 6-1 pasting at The Valley - Charlton's biggest home defeat since 1931, and the worst result during his time in the Addicks hot-seat.

Curbishley was so incensed by his side's performance that he publicly slated his players for their lack of heart and desire.

And he then made doubly sure that his message hit home by giving his squad another rollicking at the club's training ground earlier this week.

Now the Addicks face a make-or-break clash with Blackburn tomorrow knowing another defeat would effectively kill all hopes of a top-six finish.

And Curbishley knows a massive improvement is needed if they plan to erase the memories of last week's nightmare at the expense of Rovers' own Euro dreams.

"That was an astonishingly bad result and performance," blasted Curbishley, who is now in his eighth season as the Addicks manager.

"It lacked anything you'd associate with Charlton. I've had some great times at this football club and I've defended the players to the hilt - but I couldn't defend that performance.

"It wasn't just one or two of them, it was all of them.

"It's given everybody a wake-up call. If you go out in this Premiership and you're not on song, you'll get hurt. And we got hurt.

"It looked like an end of season performance from a team that are going nowhere.

"And when you consider we can get the best ever league position this club has had, that's disappointing.

"It looked as if we were completely thrown together and didn't know each other from Adam.

"Leeds made us look bad. We were down to 16 fit players, but I can't accept that from my players. Our defending was shocking.

"The players were completely gone in the changing room afterwards. They just wanted to go home, and so did I."

Curbishley's stinging criticism provoked a passionate response from the dressing room and defender Chris Powell has summed up the mood amongst the players by insisting they are determined to bounce back tomorrow.

"We got a stern talking to and rightly so," said Powell.

"I've been here a long while and that was the worst I've felt after a game -- we were poor.

"The manager told us we can't allow ourselves to ruin what has been a good season.

"In the past two seasons we've finished badly and undone much of our hard work. We have to prove now we can last the pace and that we don't use up our energy with a good spell in the season and then run out of steam.

"It's a big test of character. We have to put the Leeds game to the back of our minds and turn things around in the last six games.

"We started the season badly but stayed strong and turned things around -- now we have to do the same again.

"Last week's defeat hurt the fans, the players and management. But we can't afford to dwell on it.

"We've had a lot of praise recently and we have to remember the good memories from this season and try and ensure there are a few more before this season ends."

Charlton head for Ewood having taken just one point from their last 12 and that untimely slump has not only left their European dreams hanging by a thread, but it has also lessened the chances of them claiming their biggest-ever Premiership points haul.

They need nine points from their remaining six games to reach Curbishley's target of 53 points and, with tricky away trips to Anfield and Old Trafford still to come, that is certainly not easy.

"I know we have to be on full blob to be anywhere in this league," added the Addicks boss.

"We can't afford to drop the standard. You just can't perform like we did last week - if you do, you've got no chance.

"We've got six games to turn this into a great season, or ruin it. Let's see how we respond.

"But going to Blackburn is never easy."