Charlton forward Jayden Stockley: We had to look inwardly to find way to end early season slump

BY LOUIS MENDEZ

Charlton striker Jayden Stockley admitted that he had to do some soul-searching last week as the Addicks’ looked for a way to halt their early season slump.

The South Londoners finally earned their first league win at the fifth time of asking as Crewe Alexandra were sent packing 2-0 at The Valley on Saturday.

Stockley rounded the Alex goalkeeper to bag his second strike of the season and double the lead shortly before half-time – adding to Diallang Jaiyesimi’s header that had broken the deadlock five minutes previously.

Former Preston North End man Stockley, who has been wearing the captain’s armband this season with club skipper Jason Pearce benched, says the Addicks’ poor start to the season came as somewhat of a shock to the side.

“We didn’t [see it coming],” he explained.

“We were confident, we’d had some good results pre-season. Sometimes you can’t put your finger on it. Sometimes you have to look deep at yourself. I definitely have in the past week. Things I could do better. Being given the armband, the ways that I can talk to players and help players. I think we’ve looked at ourselves and we responded well today.

“I think [relief] was the first emotion [after the win against Crewe]. 2-0 at half-time is a tricky score line. You’ve got to go out and be relentless first 15 and put your marker down. Against a team that likes the ball it’s easy to get caught in the trap of sitting behind the ball and inviting pressure.

“I thought the lads really dug deep in hard conditions physically to go out there and put the impetus back on them. Really proud of the boys. To get out of the slump, sometimes when you’re losing it can be a bit of a snowball effect. It takes a real big effort to get out of that and we needed to today.”

A tactical tweak from boss Nigel Adkins saw Conor Washington playing further forward alongside Stockley and the move paid off as the duo linked up for the second Addicks goal of the afternoon.

Stockley was full of praise for his strike partner, saying: “[Washington’s assist] was brilliant. I’ve never seen somebody make so many runs before. He just keeps going. His willingness to get near me and do the work that no one sees to stretch them and create the space is brilliant. His vision to see me for the goal was exceptional.

“The weight on the pass was perfect for me and made my mind up in terms of what I was going to do. I’m really proud of the boys. We started amazing and then there was a 10-minute spell where it turned a little bit and we could have gone either way there so I thought the response from the lads was excellent.

“I need to get goals this season. That’s what I put pressure on myself for and I expect from myself. That will come, I know it will continue to come. That’s the demands that I put on myself. That’s why I’m here and why the club signed me. It’s lovely scoring a goal and the first one at home as well, in front of the fans. It was a delight for me.”

PHOTOS: KYLE ANDREWS