Josh Magennis: Milton Keynes win was tough – but Charlton Athletic were prepared for anything
Charlton striker Josh Magennis reckons the South Londoners’ win at Milton Keynes on Saturday was their reward for the hard work put in on the training ground last week.
The Addicks frontman scored his side’s second and decisive goal as they managed to hold onto victory in Buckinghamshire and climb back into the top six – a first win in four after Karl Robinson’s men had squandered winning margins late on in each of their last three fixtures.
Ahmed Kashi had edged Charlton ahead in the first half, but Kieran Agard pulled a goal back for the hosts moments after Magennis had doubled their lead on the hour mark.
The Northern Irish international said the squad had done their homework on different ways they could close a game out – including the switch to five at the back that Robinson employed for the final twenty minutes on Saturday.
“We’ve worked on everything,” explained the 27-year-old.
“It’s easy when you’re winning games- people just slip in and slip out and confidence is so high. But when you’ve conceded last minute, you’re coming into the last ten minutes of the game and you might be overthinking stuff. We’ve worked on stuff to the bare bone. We couldn’t have any more information. It was good.
“Pushing Jay (Dasilva) up with his defensive mind and he’s able to get you up the pitch. Plus bringing Len (Harry Lennon) on was a big physical presence and it worked out. We’re delighted to get the win.
“It was hard,” added Magennis of the clash with Milton Keynes, who sit in League One’s relegation zone.
“Even though the position they’re in, there’s no easy games in this league. You just have to try and get out the blocks – we managed to do that. (Ahmed) Kashi’s strike was brilliant. It put them on a back foot. It was up to us to not let the lead slip away and capitalise on it and that’s what we did.
“It was good character because weren’t struggling the last couple of weeks but we weren’t seeing games out. We went in front, it put us on the back-burner when they scored but it was good that the character got us through to the end of the game.
“We started the season on absolute flames and sets standards for the team and expectations. We hit the worst form I’ve been involved in, not only the team but me personally with not scoring goals. We managed to turn it around and were taking the lead in games but just weren’t seeing it out.
“We were like it just has to turn and that’s what we’ve done. If you don’t know what to do then just work hard and that’s what we’ve been doing behind the scenes. It was great to get these points because it takes us back into the top six. Psychologically, other teams can see us in there and it’s up to us to stay in there. We’ve got something to fight for to try and finish as high as we can.”