Leeds' hopes that they had turned the corner after their midweek UEFA Cup exploits proved unfounded as David O'Leary's side walked straight down a blind alley at Elland Road.

The creditable performance in holding reigning Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven to a goalless fourth-round first leg draw had rekindled Leeds' flickering dreams of place in next season's Champions League via a top-four domestic finish.

But United are now nine points adrift of the leading quartet and still without a win since New Year's Day, when they led the Premier League after a 3-0 home win over West Ham.

It has been downhill ever since as O'Leary's troops trudged off the pitch following an eighth successive match without a victory, while they have also failed to score in four of their last five games.

There might have been plenty of effort and endeavour, but there was still no spark to Leeds' performance as they struggled to warm the heart on a raw, cold Yorkshire afternoon as Charlton held firm, although they themselves have not found the net in their last three games.

Charlton, though, could easily have been a goal up after just 80 seconds as Olivier Dacourt found himself in trouble just outside his own area, forcing the French midfielder to play a suicidal ball across the edge of the box to Gary Kelly.

Paul Konchesky, one of the three changes to the Charlton team beaten 2-0 at home to Manchester United last week, took advantage of Kelly's unsurprising failure to control the ball, but sliced his shot wide with only Nigel Martyn to beat.

To be fair to Martyn he was nothing more than a spectator during the initial period as Charlton's other chances saw Chris Bart-Williams strike a sweet 25-yard free-kick inches wide, while Ian Harte just managed to divert a Graham Stuart curler into the side-netting.

It was Dean Kiely who found himself the busier of the two keepers as Leeds finally came alive in the 13th minute when a superb move involving Robbie Fowler and Dacourt set Eirik Bakke free for an angled drive which was superbly tipped away.

Kiely's fingers were stung again in the 37th minute after Dacourt, at the hub of the midfield, struck a riveting 30-yard drive which was nudged over the crossbar.

Leeds, however, lost Dacourt for the second period as he landed awkwardly on the right shoulder he dislocated two and half months ago following a collision with Luke Young at the end of the first.

Dacourt ultimately required surgery back in December and missed nine matches, and although it was clear he had not sustained a similar injury, the hope will be he is not out of the return leg against PSV on Thursday.

It brought David Batty into the fray as O'Leary had opted to start with Robbie Keane down the right wing in favour of Lee Bowyer, who was again suspended along with Danny Mills and Alan Smith after all three had returned to action in Holland.

Batty had seemingly still been paying the price for his decision to travel by car and ferry to Eindhoven - due to his concerns in the wake of the September 11 disaster - and not returning until 24 hours after the rest of the squad.

But he took up the mantle from Dacourt and continued United's drive forward in the second period, ultimately without reward for the two chances Robbie Fowler missed in the second period.

After Bakke had fizzed another shot narrowly over the bar soon after the restart, Australia duo Mark Viduka and Harry Kewell combined down the left wing with the latter pulling the ball back for Fowler. The £11million striker took one touch to set himself up, but with the goal at his mercy, he remarkably struck the right-hand post from just eight yards.

His head was in his hands again in the 70th minute as he latched onto a headed through ball from Batty, and although beating Kiely with an angled half-volley, the left-foot shot flashed across the face of the goal.

The urgency was apparent as Leeds camped themselves in the Charlton half for the closing 10 minutes after Jason Euell had found the net, only to be rightly called for offside when Graham Stuart had fired in the initial attempt.

Viduka struck the legs of Jorge Costa, Kewell rifled a half-volley onto the roof of the net, while Harte curled a 22-yard free-kick narrowly over in injury time.

The boos come the final whistle said it all, with Leeds staring at the prospect of Intertoto Cup football for next season, something which Addicks boss Alan Curbishley is refusing to contemplate for fear of burn-out among his players.

Teams:

Leeds: Martyn, Kelly, Ferdinand, Matteo, Harte, Keane, Dacourt (Batty 45), Bakke, Kewell, Fowler, Viduka.

Subs Not Used: Robinson, McPhail, Duberry, Richardson.

Charlton: Kiely, Young, Costa, Fortune, Powell, Stuart, Bart-Williams, Parker (Kinsella 80), Konchesky, Euell, Svensson (Kishishev 85).

Subs Not Used: Ilic, Brown, Johansson.

Booked: Bart-Williams.

Att: 39,374

Ref: M Dean (Cheshire).