Nathan Jones expressed his delight upon returning to winning ways with a 1-0 victory against league leaders Birmingham City.
“We bounced back in magnificent fashion,” he said. “I'm proud of the team - we came up against a wonderful football side, but we were tactically brilliant. It was bold what we did, and that was us today. We were brilliant.
“To be fair we should’ve been further ahead, we had some glorious chances in the first half - ones that were gilt-edged. We limited them to nothing, we pressed them, we were energetic, aggressive and front-footed. Take nothing away from Birmingham, they're a wonderful footballing side, well-coached, regardless of the mountain of money they've spent, they're well-coached, have good players and are well structured. That was a top performance today.”
The gaffer compared today's triumph to his Carabao Cup victory against Premier League giants Manchester City during his time as Southampton Manager.
He said: “I came up against Manchester City when I was at Southampton. It was their first time in six or seven years that Man City hadn’t had a shot on target. It was that type of performance, where we had to be so aggressive, front-footed and stop them at the source.
“If we let them come on to us, they have wonderful talent. They\ve bought well and bought real quality. The first time they have suffered defeat this year and I think it was quite fitting as we were really good.
“In the midweek, one goal wouldn’t have been enough because we were poor defensively. Today we were much more aggressive, and I'm so proud of the group because they have been through a lot.
“They dominate the middle of the park by packing it out and dropping in, and they make it really difficult as they play through you. We needed to protect the middle of the pitch, push them outside and then press aggressively. You’ll take that win all day.”
The Addicks return to action after the international break, hosting Stockport County on home soil.
“Going into the international break with a win is fantastic,” he explained. “Today was a bold move in terms of the shape, but the right thing to do and we executed it brilliantly. The credit goes to the players - we've all been through a tough time in the last week-and-a-half.”
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