Nathan Jones’ side will remain focused for their trip to Reading this weekend, the boss said in his pre-game press conference.
“We enjoy it for one night. Saturday night when you go home or whatever people do. I saw a lot of fans and they’re happy,” said Jones.
“But Sunday you begin again. I’m debriefing our game, we’re starting to watch Reading and we’re moving towards the next game. That’s just how we do. I want us to enjoy good moments, but it’s not about getting euphoric, it’s just about enjoying a good result, a good performance, the fruits of your labour, but then focusing on the next thing you have to do.”
The Addicks' trip to the Select Car Leasing Stadium is a repeat of Jones’ very first game in charge, and the gaffer is relishing the chance to test his side’s progress.
“I hoped for a different result in the first game, but when you take over you’ve got to arrest momentum and turn things round. It was a game that came very, very quickly,” he said.
“It will be an interesting gauge for us to see how far we’ve come in six, seven months. We’re looking forward to that test and putting a wrong right.”
Jones will have a near-fully fit squad to call on. “We’re in a good place injury-wise,” he revealed. “We’ve pretty much got a full squad. There’s one or two with little niggles, but it’s a really fit squad now.
“[Josh Edwards] is the only one, really, who’s a little bit more mid-term. He has a positive mindset. He has a desire to get back very quickly and, god willing, he will do that.”
The gaffer has two new additions to his wider squad, and will be looking for any ways he can improve before Friday’s deadline.
“Until we cannot do anything else, we’ll always try to improve the squad in some way, and we want to do that,” he said. “There’s a few little things we need to do - streamline one or two and then hopefully add a little bit more quality. All we’re trying to do now is add quality.
“Allan Campbell is someone who I know, I trust, that’s done exceptionally well for me for the clubs I’ve been at and for the structure I play - and at a higher level. So I’m excited about what he can bring.
“Kaheim [Dixon] will be a work in progress. We’re excited by what we see from Kaheim day in, day out in training. We’ll integrate him with the Development Squad first in terms of match minutes and then when he’s ready we’ll expose him.”
Jones has enjoyed celebrating with the fans at end of each league game so far this season, and hopes to continue that on Saturday.
“I’ve always been a believer in having a rapport with my fans, the fans who support the club, and giving them something back for what they give us,” he said. “The crowd have been absolutely outstanding, you can hear it. The Valley felt a really good place to be in that game. Especially after we scored, and if ever we came under a little bit of pressure the crowd were there. Everything we did was accentuated by the crowd. They were fantastic.
“Then when we got the second it was electric. That’s what we want to see. We want the crowd to be at capacity, we want the crowd to get behind us. But we also want a rapport with them. We want them to see that this means as much to us as it does to them.
“We want to generate momentum, a feeling, an ambience, a culture here where we’re all together. The crowd have a massive, massive part [in that]. They’ve been outstanding since I walked in the building. They’ve given me time, they’ve given me patience. All we want to do is give them a little bit back.
“We encourage them to come, we want The Valley to be an intimidating place to come to. We want to have an away following. We want to give them good away days. We want to give them amazing home days. That’s a work in progress but it’s also a collaboration between us and them.”
It's time. Be there. Click here to purchase your 2024/25 season ticket and join the journey.
