THE good news is Lee Bradbury knows exactly where Cherries are going wrong. The bad news is time is running out – for this season anyway.

“We need to be more clinical in the final third and we need to keep clean sheets, simple as that,” opined Bradbury following a fourth successive defeat, for the second time this season.

Yann Kermorgant’s stoppage-time header earned runaway League One leaders Charlton a club record-breaking 13th away victory, described by Addicks boss Chris Powell as “smash and grab”.

For Cherries, one point from 15 and one goal in seven-and-a-half hours has seen a blip escalate into a full-blown crisis and left them sinking into mid-table mediocrity.

When Maxim Demin joined forces with Eddie Mitchell in October, he would not have anticipated attending his first end-of-season dinner in the middle of March.

And while Bradbury’s latest observations may be realistic following what has been an eventful campaign, the impression he gives is one of already planning for next season.

“It is now looking increasingly difficult to make the top six,” said Bradbury after Cherries had been condemned to a ninth home defeat, a dismal record matched only by bottom-placed Wycombe.

“But anyone who was here could see what we are building, where we are going and what we might be capable of next season.

“Charlton are running away with the league and we more than matched them for long periods. If we could perform consistently, we would be a force to be reckoned with, if not this season then next.”

While Bradbury has spent more lavishly on his squad than any of his predecessors, he is about six months behind Powell, his opposite number in the Charlton dugout.

Powell, who roomed with Bradbury during Cherries’ pre-season tour to Devon in 2008, reconstructed his squad during the summer and has seen the fruits of his labours pay handsome dividends.

Unless Cherries can dramatically revive their fortunes over the next few weeks, any hopes of a play-off repeat will be extinguished well before the April showers arrive.

This was a vastly improved performance from the previous two games when dispiriting defeats against Rochdale and MK Dons had set the alarm bells ringing.

And while Bradbury would have been distraught at seeing Cherries beaten at the death, he should also be commended for making a couple of brave selection decisions.

Dropping terrace favourite Stephane Zubar – something the French defender had hinted at on his Twitter account on Friday – and record buy Matt Tubbs was a bold move.

Although £800,000 signing Tubbs had scored on his debut against Exeter, the 28-year-old striker found chances hard to come by in his next four games.

However, it was not so much a change in personnel that Bradbury should be applauded for, more a return to a |formation that served |Cherries so well during their mid-season purple patch.

While deploying Wes Thomas as a lone striker may have been perceived as a negative tactic by some supporters, the players had always looked comfortable with this tried and tested formation.

And had Thomas found the back of the net rather than the outside of the post when he slid in to meet a Scott Malone cross after 17 minutes, the outcome could have been very different.

Although Bradbury had been keen to highlight Cherries’ litany of goalscoring chances, in truth, neither Ben Hamer nor his 70th-minute replacement John Sullivan were seriously tested throughout.

“We had 18 attempts on goal and they had eight,” said Bradbury. “We made the chances, we just needed to put them in the net.”

Asked whether a return of one goal in five games concerned him, Bradbury replied: “It does a little bit but we are creating chances. I would be worried if we hadn’t created chances in the past four games but we have created enough to have won all four.”

Goalmouth incident was at a premium during a cagey first half, with Addicks striker Bradley Wright-Phillips drawing a routine stop from Darryl Flahavan just seconds after Thomas had gone close.

Cherries would have reached the interval in confident mood, the exploits of Malone, Donal McDermott and Shaun MacDonald ensuring Bradbury’s men won, on points, the opening period.

The hosts, however, were thankful to Flahavan for saving superbly after Danny Green had let fly with a rasping drive through a crowd of players four minutes into the second half.

Cherries’ profligacy was summed up when both Thomas and Wes Fogden contrived to make a dog’s dinner of shooting chances after a Simon Francis assist had split the visitors’ defence.

Charlton old boy Harry Arter looked set to draw first blood after embarking on a probing run into enemy territory, only to see his 88th-minute strike roll agonisingly the wrong side of the upright.

And Cherries’ woes were compounded when, for the second game in succession, they were undone by a corner, Kermorgant applying the finishing touch after Danny Haynes had flicked on Green’s flag kick, despite the best efforts of MacDonald to clear his header off the line.