CHARLTON boss Lee Bowyer has ramped up the tension ahead of this weekend’s showdown at the Valley by warning relegation rivals Middlesbrough they might have to win four of their remaining ten matches to guarantee staying in the Championship.

Boro’s current total of 38 points leaves them in the relegation zone ahead of Saturday’s trip to South London, one point clear of both their weekend opponents and Stoke City.

While the Teessiders have been on a dreadful run recently, failing to win any of their last ten league games, the majority of the other teams close to the foot of the league have been displaying improved form.

As a result, Bowyer has been reassessing his survival target, and now feels it could take 50 points to guarantee finishing outside the bottom three.

“I think you’ll need about 50 points to be safe, probably not more than that,” said the Addicks boss. “The teams that are winning have all got to start playing each other, so they both can’t win.

“People can say our run-in looks easier on paper, but all the teams are fighting for something. There are no bad teams in this division.

“If I’m looking positively, then we’re above Barnsley and Luton, two clubs that finished above us last season, and both of them have spent money.”

Charlton started the season in impressive fashion, and briefly sat at the top of the table in August, but their decline set in during the autumn when they went 17 games with just one win.

Boro’s safety looked all but assured when they opened up an 11-point gap to the relegation zone after a run of four successive wins over Christmas, but their form has nosedived over the last couple of months, culminating in their descent into the bottom three.

Saturday’s game could hardly be more important, with Boro in particular desperately in need of a positive result to stop the rot. After visiting Charlton, the Teessiders’ next two away games pit them against 21st-placed Stoke City and 18th-placed Hull, a side whose recent form is every bit as bad as their own. Thanks to a quirk of the fixture computer, Charlton head to Hull in their next game after hosting Boro.

“We’re still above the relegation zone so it’s in our hands,” added Bowyer. “I believe we can stay there, for sure. The most important thing is that we all stick together. I’m going to say that to the players before the game. We have to fight. This is it now.”