Johnnie Jackson felt his side got the result their performance warranted as the Addicks recorded a 2-1 triumph over Portsmouth at Fratton Park.
Conor Washington broke the deadlock on 31 minutes before Sean Clare forced Pompey skipper Clark Robertson to inadvertently turn the ball into his own net after the restart. Michael Jacobs halved the hosts’ deficit late on to prompt a Portsmouth rally, though Charlton remained resolute to claim a deserved three points.
“A big three points against a rival in the league, a team above us that we want to try and obviously catch so to close the gap is really important,” said Jackson. “The performance and the way that we’ve gone about our business to get that win is really pleasing. It will do my squad’s confidence the world of good.
“I felt the goal was coming when we did score. I thought we were the better team throughout the game really, but certainly in that first period we carried a massive threat on the counter-attack. I thought we should have had more goals.
“[Alex] Gilbey’s hit the post there,” added the boss. “We’ve been working a lot on him getting into those positions and trying to add goals to his game, so it’s great that he’s getting in those positions. He had another opportunity there in the first-half as well. I think we should have been further ahead, further out of sight. Even at two you are always one goal away from being a bit panicky.”
And Jackson has now called on his players to maintain those performance levels for the remainder of the campaign.
“We’ve had a really good week on the training ground with some really good preparation,” continued the gaffer. “It’s a big game and it’s always a great atmosphere here. A team that’s just above you in the table, it’s on the TV, it seems to always bring the best out of us in those sorts of games.
“It can’t be that we’re only able to raise our performance level for these types of games. It has to be every single week now if we want to do anything with the rest of this season, and I’ve told the lads that.
“I know they’re capable of it and it frustrates me when they dip off, but tonight they have all stepped up. Every single one of them - the lads who came on and the lads who didn’t rallied around them and we got what we deserved.”
The Addicks return to The Valley this Saturday to take on AFC Wimbledon. Simply click here to purchase a ticket for this weekend's game.