Relegation is a consequence, not a punishment, even if the financial loss for a club losing its place in the Premiership is undeniably punitive. The temptation to stick dunces' caps on teams that go down is strong, yet they are often not the least accomplished sides, merely victims of sets of circumstances which have combined to deprive them of points when they could least afford it.

Take Charlton Athletic, poised above the bottom three like Indiana Jones dangling over a snake pit, on Saturday they could and should have put more distance between themselves and the writhing angst below by beating an unusually listless Leeds United team at The Valley. Instead they dropped two home points in a 1-1 draw and were thankful to a late equaliser from a Southampton Latvian which denied Blackburn Rovers the win that would have put Charlton into one of the relegation positions.

Blackburn visit The Valley on Saturday week, for the sort of fixture which will find the losers, if there is a loser, crying "m'aidez!". Charlton's more immediate concern, however, is tomorrow's home game against Spurs.

Charlton: Petterson, Mills, Rufus, Tiler, Powell, Stuart, Kinsella, Jones, Mortimer (Bowen 68), Pringle (Bright 82), Hunt. Subs Not Used: Brown, Barnes, Salmon. Sent Off: Rufus (65). Goals: Stuart 20.

Leeds: Martyn, Woodgate, Radebe, Wetherall, Harte, Hopkin (Haaland 14), Bowyer, Batty, Kewell, Hasselbaink (Jones 32), Smith. Subs Not Used: Wijnhard, Ribeiro, Robinson. Booked: Bowyer, Batty, Woodgate, Smith, Kewell. Goals: Woodgate 24.

Referee: A Wilkie (Chester-le-Street).