Fulham defender Chris Baird believes their home defeat to Charlton Athletic was a blip.

While he was frustrated with the defeat, Baird, who started at centre-half, insists next week's Barclays Premier League opener with Norwich City bore much more importance.

"Obviously it's disappointing to lose," he told the official website. "We were excellent in the first half and could have been two or three up. I'm disappointed we didn't get more goals and we were sloppy in the second half and it cost us.

"We're all disappointed but I'd rather lose this one than lose next week. We'll go into next week looking for the three points to start us off."