Academy graduate George Lapslie put his body on the line to help Charlton secure a vital three points away at league-leaders Portsmouth on Tuesday night.
The tireless youngster was everywhere in midfield and, in the second half, he made an incredible goal-line block that saw the ball hit him straight in the face before ricocheting to safety.
The victory moved the Addicks up to fifth in Sky Bet League One and ended Pompey’s eight-match winning run and Lapslie was delighted to have played his part in the impressive performance.
“We cleared it off the line a few times and I cleared two of them myself,” he said. “One of them hit me right in the face, which bloody hurt, but it was all worth it!
“It smashed me in my face, my ear is ringing now but I’ll be fine for Saturday – I’ll definitely be out there.
“The determination of the boys is brilliant and is always there. We’ll all work our nuts off for each other and that epitomises us. We dug in during the last five minutes and got the job done.”
Charlton defended brilliantly throughout the 90 minutes but Portsmouth did pull a goal back two minutes from time through Andre Green.
And Lapslie praised the travelling Charlton fans for helping them to hold onto the lead in the closing minutes.
He said: “It was an unbelievable game to play in. The fans really got behind us and I’m just glad that we could get the win for us and for them.
“Their support drove us on in the last minutes. After conceding one, it would have been easy to cave in and maybe not work as hard as we did but the fans kept us going and we are grateful for the win and for their support.”
