Frazer aiming for automatic promotion
He's the second name on Charlton's teamsheet - and regular right-back Frazer Richardson is desperate for his club to occupy one of the two promotion spots come May.
Having twice suffered play-off agony in his previous life as a Leeds United player, Richardson's sights are set on automatic elevation, even if it is at the expense of his former club.
Richardson played his part in a satisfying, if not spectacular, 2-0 win against Stockport County on Saturday, and the defender wants the Addicks to build on that display in their derby against Millwall on Saturday.
"I can't stress how much I want that second spot,” he told CAFC Player shortly after Saturday's win/clean sheet double. "I'd love first place, but Norwich City are a good few points clear now.
"Even at the start of the season, Christian [Dailly] and some of the other lads were saying we have to get automatic [promotion]. That's even more the case for me because I've been in the play-off situation a few times now and it's not really what you want.
"But if that's the way it's got to be, then we'll put things in motion and we will do things right in order to get through the play-offs. As long as we're in the top two, then I'm happy."
Charlton exploded out of the blocks on Saturday after Paul Huntington - a former defensive colleague of Richardson at Elland Road - put through his own net and Akpo Sodje scored his third goal in as many games from the full-back's fine cross.
Two goals up after 10 minutes suggested the hosts might run riot, but Stockport held firm to keep the final scoreline far more respectable than it might have been.
"I thought we were very good in the first half," Frazer continued. "We passed the ball around well, we showed some good movement and we closed them down well. It was a frustrating second half. But we will take the win all day long, to be honest. The results have gone for us again, so it's a good win."
The defender, who made a 27th appearance for the club against the Hatters, admitted the final outcome could be filed under the points rather than performance category, adding: "There's 11 games left, and it's important that we get as many wins as possible on the board, so if we win as we did against Stockport in the majority of the rest of the games, we will take that all day long.
"We all want to play well and we all want to play well for the fans as much as for ourselves, but at the end of the day, it's the three points that count."
When questioned whether the fast-starting Addicks had taken their foot off the pedal, Frazer responded: "I was talking to Chris Solly as we were doing our cool-down, and he said it did seem a little bit too easy for us. Maybe it was a case of that today. But fair play to Stockport; in the second half they gave it a real good go but they never really threatened, I thought.
"We were quite solid at the back, but didn't seem to get our passing game going in the second half. We will look to put that right this week and go into Millwall with three wins out of four, which gives us loads of confidence."
The win, coupled with Leeds' 1-1 home draw against Brentford, means the Addicks are two points behind the Elland Roaders, albeit having played one game more.
But Richardson insists it's all about Charlton getting their own house in order rather than worrying about results elsewhere.
"I play football and I want to win for Charlton," he stressed. "Leeds are their own club, their own team, and I just want to take Charlton forward in the best way possible. For us, that's to get promoted this season."
On the pressure of the race for the Championship, the 27-year-old added: "Pressure does a lot of things to players and it's not easy to play under these circumstances. We've tried to relieve the pressure and not put it on ourselves as much.
"That's an important factor, to try to relax and play our football, as we did in the first half against Stockport. We have to carry that through now. It can be hard to get across the finishing line. We're on the run-in now. A lot of teams struggle towards the end of the season because there's a lot more pressure on every single game to try and get points and to accumulate enough to go up.
"Norwich won again and they seem to be running away with it, but second place is there for everyone to fight for. As long as we keep producing wins, we should be there or thereabouts."
Charlton have bounced back from last month's disappointing home defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion to record successive maximums at Southend United and at home to Stockport.
Add in the win against Yeovil Town on February 20th and the Addicks are in good form, having collected nine points from the last 12 available.
The team's powers of recovery have been evident all season, with the win at Southend, after falling a goal behind before the interval, a good example of their never-say-die spirit.
Richardson continued: "It is quite difficult to take the pressure off. The fans are very expectant here, and they expect you to do everything right the first time you do something. But when things aren't going quite as you want, you have to stay together as a team, stay calm, keep doing the right things and trust that they will take you forward. That's an important factor.
"We believe we're doing the right things and I'm sure if we keep doing them week in, week out, then we'll get there in the end."
Richardson was not involved in the Leeds squad for their play-off semi-final showdown against Millwall last May - and having missed the thrilling 4-4 Valley draw against the Lions in December through injury, he is looking forward to being unleashed at The New Den.
"It's very important that we go into it with very cool heads," said Frazer, who was beaten 3-1 across South-East London for Leeds in November 2008. "It's very easy to get carried away with the atmosphere and lose your head.
"There's going to be some strong tackles, but then that's the case in every game. It's very important that we get on with it, keep cool and do the things we want to do. I can definitely sense the rivalry. Bails [Nicky Bailey] has been on about it for a good few weeks and I'm sure he's looking forward to it. It will be a good test for us to go away from home and try to pick up another three points, which is what we'll be trying to do."
It's sure to be a crackling atmosphere across the capital as the Addicks pay a competitive visit for the first time since December 1995, and Richardson expects the capital showdown to be quite an occasion.
As one of the senior statesmen in the squad, he is also keen to make sure his colleagues are not caught up in the moment.
"It can be deafening at Millwall when it's rocking," he said. "Leeds and Millwall is a big rivalry and I remember the game there last season when we were under the cosh and their fans really got up for it and gave them a lift. But it's important we go about our own business in the right way and I'm sure we can go there and get a win.
"Intimidation is all in the mind. If you let it intimidate you, then it can be an issue, but we've got enough big characters in the team not to let it affect us. I'm sure the experienced lads, myself included, will be around some of the young lads to give a word of advice.
"We want to go there and win. We don't want to pick up a draw. We go there with the mindset of wanting to win. Millwall are very hard to play against, well organised and good on set-plays, so we'll have to go there fully equipped for that, and we will be.
"We really don't want what happened at The Valley to happen again," he added, recalling when the Addicks conceded two early goals and then a last-minute equaliser when the Lions were down to 10 men. "It's easy to get caught up in the atmosphere, but it's important for us to play our own game and try to get the win."
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