‘Really good points haul’ – Charlton Athletic boss Nathan Jones on 2-1 win at Mansfield Town
Charlton Athletic manager Nathan Jones has described their points total as “a good haul” after tonight’s 2-1 victory at Mansfield Town.
The Addicks remained fourth in the League One but Wrexham, in the final automatic promotion spot, and Wycombe Wanderers, third in the standings, both drew.
Charlton are 10 points clear of seventh-placed Reading, who do have a match in hand, but a play-off place looks almost assured.
There is a six-point gap to Wrexham, held 2-2 at Neil Harris’ Cambridge United.
Matty Godden and Tyreece Campbell scored for the South Londoners at Field Mill.
Godden gratefully accepted a woeful pass out by Louis Reed on the edge of the hosts’ penalty area in the 23rd minute, making no mistake to beat keeper Christy Pym.
Matthew Craig levelled for Mansfield before half-time with a thumping half-volley after Baily Cargill’s cross was only half-cleared by Macaulay Gillesphey.
Campbell, who netted twice in Saturday’s 4-0 home win against Huddersfield, beat Pym at his near post to settle the contest in the 74th minute. The academy product went down for treatment shortly afterwards and was replaced by Tennai Watson.
“First and foremost a win is everything,” said Jones.
“The performance…we will pick holes in certain things. We were really good at the start – front-footed in everything we did. Then we came off the gas and credit to Mansfield, they wanted to step on to us. We allowed them to do that by the tempo that we played with. Then they probably got a deserved equaliser.
“At half-time we had a bit of a reset and spoke to the players. We were much, much better in the second half. We made some positive changes, got the goal and then saw the game out well. That is probably what it is all about.
“We’ve got a good defensive record. No clean sheet tonight – which is a little bit disappointing – but you can’t have shutouts all the time. What we showed was real character, resilience and fighting spirit when we weren’t at our best. We have people who can hurt teams and we showed that tonight.”
Summer signing Godden, 33, has 17 goals for Charlton.
“The first one comes from our press and high turnover – we pride ourselves on that,” said Jones. “Matty still has to show the composure to score.
“I was disappointed with that little period before half-time because we allowed a team to step on us – we didn’t combat that.
“Second half we have had a few chances and a lot of situations. We switched Tyreece to the other side, we felt he could have a bit of joy, and he did.”
Charlton have six matches remaining of the regulation campaign, starting with Saturday’s home fixture against Lincoln City.
“We take every game as it comes,” said Jones. “We’re looking to win the next one and the next one – so on – it is a cliche.
“We are in a very good position – 72 points is a really good haul at this stage of the season. Especially compared to where we were last year. Nothing is achieved yet. Nothing is decided – we just keep fighting.”
PICTURE: KYLE ANDREWS