Charlton defender Naby Sarr says assistant boss Johnnie Jackson gave him the green light to take over free-kick duties during win at Wimbledon

Charlton defender Naby Sarr may not have been the obvious choice to fire a set-piece at goal – but assistant manager Johnnie Jackson had urged him to try his luck at AFC Wimbledon.

The Addicks centre-half dispatched a perfect free-kick into the top-corner, hauling his side level five minutes into the second-half of Saturday’s 2-1 win at Kingsmeadow.

Igor Vetokele went on to win it for Lee Bowyer’s side in added time as Charlton secured their first win in five league outings.

“We have good players who can take free-kicks, so I wasn’t needed [previously],” explained Sarr, 25.

“Jacko told me on Friday if a free-kick was on the right-hand side, to have a go and try it. That’s why I did it. Today, I was lucky it went in. I don’t take many free-kicks, so I just had a go. It’s not my specialty, I just tried it and it went in. I went to him. That was my celebration with Jacko.

“Maybe that was the luck of the first free-kick! I hope the luck will find the next one. I’m happy to take them. If I can now practice them in training that will be good.”

“Everyone is happy,” he added.

“It feels great to get this win away from home, especially after four games without a win. We needed that one. We’re all happy about it.

“At half-time, we said that wasn’t good enough. We’re miles better than this team, we just have to show it. We had chances. If we took them all we could have won 5-1 or 6-1. They were blocking, the keeper was making saves. Finally, with our togetherness and determination, we had the second goal.

“This win can be a new start for us to begin a series and keep going. The last thirteen games will be very important. This win came at the right time.”