Charlton Athletic boss Jones on Bielik’s ‘very naive’ comments firing his side up for big win over Birmingham City

Charlton Athletic manager Nathan Jones has talked about how Krystian Bielik’s confident claims about Birmingham being “too good” for League One helped fire up his troops to record a 1-0 victory over the League One leaders.

The Blues were on a seven-game winning streak and five points clear at the summit coming into today’s contest.

But Matty Godden’s second-half goal – his fourth of the season in all competitions – ended a run of three straight losses for the South Londoners.

Bielik, who was on loan with Charlton from Arsenal when they won promotion from this level under Lee Bowyer, recently said: “In six months time we’ll be a Championship team and a different animal. We stay humble and keep our feet on the ground and we don’t want to choke on it. But the reality is we’re too good for League One.”

Godden admitted post-match that Bielik’s comments were “plastered all over” the home dressing room.

Asked about that, Jones said: “It gave us an extra bit of motivation. I would tend to probably agree with him – but it’s very naive to come out and say that when you’re coming into a big game.

“If I believed I was one of the best-looking guys in south-east London, I’m not sure I would say that going into a beauty contest.”

“It was an outstanding performance. Professional, aggressive and front-footed. I had a result when I was at Southampton, against Man City, where it was the first time they didn’t have a shot on target in seven years. It ranks alongside that type of performance.

“We showed today when we’re at it that we’re a good side.”

Plenty of the focus was on Alfie May returning to SE7 for the second time since his summer move to Birmingham.

But the Blues frontman was one of three half-time substitutions by Blues boss Chris Davies.

Instead it was Godden, signed from Coventry City in the summer, which made him the headline-making forward on the afternoon.

“We brought him (Godden) in – and spent a lot of money on him – and he is quality,” said Jones. “That is what he brings. We lost Alfie May, so we had to replace those goals. We believe we have done that with Matty Godden.

“We were outstanding from start to finish. To nullify all the threats they have and we had all the best chances.

“We should have been at least one-up at half-time. It was tighter than it needed to be.”

PICTURES: KYLE ANDREWS