MANAGER Alan Curbishley has set the record straight over Charlton’s reluctance to spend in the January transfer window.

Though the club had been strongly linked with Watford’s Heidar Helguson and the Nottingham Forest pair Andy Reid and Michael Dawson, who signed for Tottenham on Monday, Curbishley declined to splash his cash.

Even as the window was closing, the Addicks were linked with the 24-year-old Lens midfielder Olivier Thomert, with the French club’s chairman Gervais Martel claiming that the club had lodged a bid of £3.1 million and offered the player a four-and-a-half year contract. Charlton denied the speculation.

Curbishley admitted: "We’ve jostled around and tried like everyone else but I think you’ve only seen clubs with six to eight millions pounds to spend doing business.

"We would love to bring someone in but with the amount of money I’ve got I couldn’t sign anyone who is better than what we’ve got. Players like Chris Perry, Mark Fish and Kevin Lisbie are back from injury, then I’ve got a lot of unhappy players like Jason Euell, Franny Jeffers and Paul Konchesky who have not played a lot of football.

"I’ve got five players with fresh legs who I can call on with a third of the season left. So I’m going with the devil I know rather than the devil I don’t."

He added: "The other problem is getting medicals and contracts sorted in the limited time available in the January window."

Though Curbishley had been adamant that no-one would be leaving The Valley, he had second thoughts on Sunday when he allowed midfielder Graham Stuart to join Norwich on loan for the rest of the season.

Stuart scored 23 goals in 164 League and Cup appearances for the club but played just six times this season.

Charlton’s FA Cup luck held firm with Monday’s fifth round draw when they were paired with Championship side Leicester City at The Valley on Saturday, February 19.

It was the club’s third consecutive home draw having eclipsed Rochdale and Yeovil in previous rounds.

"We haven’t been this far in the competition for years so we’re all enjoying ourselves," said Curbishley. "We’ve given our supporters some great times in the last 10 years but we’ve not managed to give them a Cup run. So we’re desperate to do that, and I’m desperate to do that now we’ve been given a decent fifth round draw."

While some other Premier League managers controversially give the FA Cup short shrift, Curbishley called for the competition to be given the respect it deserves.

He explained: "You hear people want to make the FA Cup more prestigious by raising its profile, so I wish the Premier League would think about it as well when they compile fixtures.

"Because if you’re playing an FA Cup tie on the Saturday, should you be playing a Premier League match on Tuesday, as we did this week? For me, that says don’t play your first team in the Cup-tie.

"At Charlton we take the Cup seriously, that’s why I made one change from the side that won at Everton a week earlier."

The Charlton boss also called for a meeting of minds to consider an earlier start to the season to avoid fixture congestion.

England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson is applying heavy pressure for a winter break to give him more time to prepare the national side.

"What’s the big deal about starting the season earlier?" said Curbishley. "Spain have the same amount of teams in their Premier League as us and they don’t have any complaints about internationals and preparing for World Cups and European Championships.

"Suddenly, we’re inserting two midweek matches to give the international team an Easter break. I know that Sven has got the hump about winter breaks and not having enough time to prepare. So isn’t it time that we all sat down to sort something out."