A beaming Lee Bowyer admitted that the victory at Burton Albion on Tuesday evening was “the best three points we’ve won this season.”
The Addicks came from behind to earn a 2-1 win after Lukas Akins’ penalty was cancelled out by Karlan Grant’s own spot-kick before the break. And despite having their backs up against the wall for large parts of the second half, skipper Jason Pearce popped out to net an 88th winner against the run of play to ensure a fourth league success in a row for Bowyer’s men.
Speaking following the “smash and grab” victory, the Charlton boss said: “That’s the best three points we’ve won this season because those are the ones that you don’t deserve.
“But you dig deep, fight and compete to get the three points, so I am over the moon.”
“Did we deserve the three points?” continued Bowyer.
“No. It was 100 per cent smash and grab. But there have been a lot of games where we have deserved the three points and left with nothing this season, so I’m going to take the points and run.
“These Tuesday nights are the one that get you promotion. Come the end of the season, you have to dig deep. Our lads are tired from Saturday because they put a shift in, so I told them they had to dig in and give me 100 per cent and they’ll have a bit of a rest after this.
“All I ask is 100 per cent, dig in, fight and compete with each other and, again, it was a dogged team performance on a Tuesday night. That’s what you need on a Tuesday night and that’s what we’ve just done.”
Bowyer reserved praise for his match-winning captain whose performance personified the Addicks’ fighting spirit on a cold and wet evening at the Pirelli Stadium and was delighted with the overall effort put in by his players.
“He’s just a warrior, isn’t he?” he said of Pearce.
“He’s a leader and that’s why he’s our captain. But they all did well tonight and all put a shift in. George Lapslie was literally everywhere, even when you didn’t want him to be! You just want him to keep his shape and stay in position, but he was everywhere!
“Jed Steer was outstanding. I thought he was excellent and some of the saves he made were very good.
Everyone put a shift in and I’m really pleased for them.”
“We’ve just got to keep plodding along,” added Bowyer.
“Like I’ve said before, we’re not even halfway through the season yet. We’re in a good position at the moment and near enough everybody above won as well, so it’s a long way to go with a lot of points to be played for.
“We’ve got another tough one in Blackpool away next and that’ll be just as hard as tonight. But we’ll have a bit of a rest now until our next league game so we’ll be ready for that.”