Chris Coleman admitted watching Coventry come within one goal of Championship relegation was the most agonising 90 minutes of his career.City had arrived at Charlton knowing victory would make results elsewhere irrelevant but were outplayed at The Valley, where Luke Varney, Andy Gray, Grant Basey and substitute Chris Powell - who was playing his last game in an Addicks shirt - were on the scoresheet in a 4-1 win.

City had just a Michael Mifsud strike to show for a desperately poor 90 minutes and the 3,000 fans who had travelled down from the Midlands waited anxiously for confirmation they had escaped the drop.

Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday both won to push Coventry to the brink and had Leicester scored at Stoke then City would have gone down in place of the Foxes.

Coleman said: "I'm relieved. We have been in a relegation battle for three or four months and now it is finally over. But that's not the way to secure your place in the Championship with a 4-1 defeat.

"The players weren't celebrating in the dressing room. None of us were. We were exhausted and disappointed.

"I'm delighted we have stayed up but not in the fashion we did.

"I believe Leicester hit the post and the bar and that's how close we have come to slipping out of the league.

"It was agony. It was the worst day of my career - and we never even got relegated. I never want to experience that again.

"I'm relieved we stayed up but disappointed with the result.

"I felt sorry for the fans. Our away support has been amazing but that wasn't the way to thank them.

"I am delighted to be staying up, don't get me wrong, but I have a lot of hard thinking to do now."

While Coleman knows he must spend the summer trying to sign new players in all positions Addicks boss Alan Pardew revealed he wanted just a handful of new faces to turn his side into promotion contenders.

He said: "The players played with a freedom because there was no pressure on us and it is that mentality I feel has cost us this year.

"Being able to cope with the expectation and pressure has been a problem.

"I spoke to the players afterwards about that. If they had coped with the pressure better then we would have been in the play-offs - and possibly even promoted.

"When the big games came we got too tight. And big games are not just against West Brom, they are Scunthorpe or Blackpool away when you are expected to win.

"I certainly need to bring three or four strong characters into this group, which hopefully will have a stronger mentality from the experience of this year."

Powell was given an emotional send-off by The Valley faithful and Pardew confirmed the 38-year-old would not be offered the chance to stay on as part the coaching staff.

He said: "In all honesty I can't afford to keep him on and I have made that clear to him. I would love to keep him on in a coaching capacity but I haven't got funds or a position for that.

"He might have another year as a player and he would bring something to any team but coaching is where his future lies.

"Good black coaches are thin on the ground and Chris Powell deserves a chance with a player-coaching role because if he gets a job here it would be lower down the levels."

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