Darren Ambrose has issued a rallying cry to his Charlton team-mates by insisting that they can pull off the great escape and avoid relegation to League One.

Charlton lie eight points from safety ahead of tonight's match against Crystal Palace at The Valley after an awful season.

Phil Parkinson's side have not won a League match in 18 attempts dating back to a 2-1 win over Ipswich last October but midfielder Ambrose said: "We have to remember the League is not over.

"There are 54 points to play for and no one in this camp is thinking it is over already.

"We want to go into the game with Palace, which will be our biggest game of the season, feeling confident.

"I'm sure the crowd will be up for it and hopefully that will be the catalyst for a run of results.

"If we can get a win, we can get people back on our side.

"We expect the criticism at the moment, we understand it, but hopefully the supporters will get behind us.

"Everyone is really excited about the game tonight.

"All the players have been talking about how this is such a big game."

Ambrose (right), who joined Charlton in 2005 from Newcastle, admits that he is struggling to understand why the club have suffered such a dreadful slump.

He added: "I can't put my finger on why things have gone wrong here. A lot of it is to do with luck and also performances.

"Look at the Derby game which was on television. Derby scored in the last minute and we ended up drawing.

"But if your luck is not in, then it is not in. I know there have been some good performances but we are just not coming away with the results."

Parkinson will be boosted by the return of former Palace midfielder Tom Soares while Matthew Spring is also set to make the starting line-up. But Graeme Murty will have a late test on his shin injury.

Palace boss Neil Warnock is likely to juggle his midfield trio around with Shaun Derry, Nick Carle and John Oster all getting the nod to play tonight.