‘Deserved to win it’ – Cheltenham Town boss Elliott on claiming three points at Charlton Athletic
Cheltenham Town head coach Wade Elliott only had praise for his players after their 1-0 win at Charlton Athletic last night.
Alfie May punished a mistake by Craig MacGillivray, hooking the ball home for a late clincher after the Addicks goalkeeper’s attempt at a clearing header dismally failed.
Elliott said: “Deserved [to win]. We were really good.
“That’s what he [May] does – he sniffs out chances and he scores goals. The work-rate of him and Dan [N’Lundulu] was equally as valuable.
“Some of our football, especially in the first half, was really good. We’ve been solid and defensively been really sound – it’s given us a really good base to grow our football from. Some of the chances we created first half were excellent.
“We were rightly rewarded by Alfie’s goal because any other result wouldn’t have reflected the balance of the game.
“You expect coming to a club like Charlton, the stature of the club, that you’re going to come under a bit of pressure at times and have to dig in. We’ve had to show different aspects of the game. When we’ve had to defend, we’ve defended really well.
Picture: Paul Edwards
“The really pleasing bit is once we went1-0 up we haven’t dropped off and we haven’t been passive. When we scored we didn’t come away from what we do and what we believe in.
“We’re not a Charlton Athletic, our strength is in the collective. We have to have a good dressing room and good people – we get that right and it’s how we go and compete with clubs like this.
“They [Charlton] haven’t played a three [at the back] very often. I think the only game I’ve seen them play a three is Ipswich, so we didn’t expect them to play a three. We were half-prepared, just in case they did. I don’t know what the thinking behind them changing was, but credit to our lads because we worked on a four but we’re at the stage of the season now where we’ve played against a three enough to know how to flip.
“You start getting your rewards for your work that you’ve done.”
MAIN PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD