The Seagulls produced three goals in their victory over the Women’s Championship outfit, with two coming from the penalty spot, but Powell insisted that her players must meet the high standards that is asked of them.
She said, “I’m happy-ish. We’re disappointed that we didn’t score more and that we didn’t play the way we know we can in the first half. Credit must go to Charlton – they did very well. I thought we were sloppy at times.
“In the second half we started to pass the ball a bit quicker and move their players round a lot more. I think our fitness showed in the end, and we played out a comfortable win, but I wasn’t pleased with the first half to be honest.
“A win is a win so we are pleased. The expectation is that we win the game, so I’ve got to be happy with the win, but I’m not as happy with the entire performance.”
Powell made eight changes to the starting line up from last week’s 1-1 draw against Chelsea, and she was happy to give minutes to more players ahead of a tough test back in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League next week.
“It's really important that we give players game time, and it will be a squad that gets us to where we want to be at the end of the season.
“It’s going to be a big game next week [against Arsenal] and we know it’s going to be tough. I think the fact that we got a point from Chelsea means that Arsenal will look at us thinking that they will have to be on their game.
“For us, we appreciate it will be tough and they will have more of the ball than us. The experience we got against Chelsea will do us no harm and we will have a bit of confidence heading into the game.”