Charlton beat Cambridge United 1-0 to move within six points of the top two and Nathan Jones was delighted his side securing an important three points.
Tyreece Campbell was the match-winner, striking in the 14th minute for the Addicks who didn’t concede a shot on target, holding on for a 19th clean sheet of the season.
Speaking post-match he said: “I’m delighted because this is a real tough place to come. Games are never pretty, they’re never footballing games here or really tactical. They’re the games where you do the basics really well, head the ball, turn it, win your second balls – all the ugly stuff that you have to do in League One, you have to do really well here and we did that today.”
Wrexham, Wycombe Wanderers and Stockport County have all dropped points at Cambridge this season and after looking comfortable throughout, the Addicks had to deal with some late pressure.
“It’s always nervy because they throw bodies, they’re going for it, getting bodies in the box, the wind is swirling, the pitch is bobbly,” explained Jones. “Realistically this is British pyramid football and that’s why you have to make sure you do your job well as it can land at any point.
“We had the best chances in the game. Their goalkeeper has made a great save from TC [Campbell], Godders [Matty Godden] has hit the post and to be fair we were the better side for long periods. It’s always risky, this time last year we took the lead and just couldn’t hold out. I thought today we defended magnificently. Not many teams come here and win here. This is a real difficult place to do that, especially with the conditions, because it was very difficult.
“To do anything in this league you’ve got to do so many things well. The ugly stuff you have to do really well, the defensive side and you’ve got to make sure that you take one of your chances.
“It was so important today to get the three points to keep the pressure on those above us.”
Jones was full of praise for his game changers Karoy Anderson, Chuks Aneke, Tennai Watson and Micah Mbick. On Mbick, making his first appearance after a long spell on the sideline, he said: “We’ve seen something in training this week that’s quite frightening. He came on and was magnificent.”
The win means Charlton can seal a place in the play-offs with a victory against Northampton Town on Good Friday at The Valley.
Jones said: “We’ve just got to keep doing our job. We’re 10 points clear in terms of the play-offs, with four games to go, which puts us in a wonderful position to achieve our first goal and then we’ve got to see where we are. There is a lot of football to be played, we’re still six points adrift of the automatics, so that’s going to be difficult to overhaul but let’s see.”
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