Charlton Athletic boss excited by Portsmouth test as he appreciates Valley home support not showing negativity

Charlton Athletic manager Ben Garner is looking forward to Monday evening’s home game against Portsmouth and has thanked home fans for not showing any negativity during last night’s 4-2 victory over Exeter.

The Addicks had not won in eight League One matches before they saw off the Grecians.

And next up comes the visit of Pompey, fifth in the table and with two matches in hand on all the clubs above them.

Asked if it was frustrating that Charlton’s next match did not swing around more quickly after defeating Exeter, Garner said: “It is what it is. We’ve mapped out what we’re doing, so the players will have a little rest now and we’ll build into Portsmouth on Monday night.

“I’m looking forward to it, [against] a team that has started really well – on Sky and here at The Valley. The atmosphere tonight was brilliant, the fans were terrific, because we hadn’t won in a while and it could’ve turned sour. There might have been a bit of negativity at the start of the game but there wasn’t. They were fully behind the players. I appreciate that.

“It shows the class of our fans here, and we’re unbeaten at home. That’s three wins and three draws in the league, a couple of cup wins here as well. We want to keep that home form going as long as we can. The longer we can become unbeaten here it becomes a real strength for teams coming here.”

“If you look at some of the football we played tonight, when apparently we are under pressure, we haven’t had a win in a while – imagine what they [his players] can do if we get three or four on the bounce, really get a run going?

“The bravery and courage to play second half, at 2-1 up and under pressure, a lot of teams would just boot it. We passed our way out and played through the pitch. I can’t give them enough credit.

“We nullified them [Exeter] with the ball. They had a spell at the end of the first half where it was more we stopped attacking and stopped playing a little bit, that gave them a little bit of momentum. We dealt with it second half really, really well. We created good opportunities, scored good goals and possibly could’ve had one or two more.”

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD