Nathan Jones was delighted with his first win as Charlton manager following his side’s second-half fight back in which they claimed a 2-1 victory at second-placed Derby County.
“I’m really proud,” he told CharltonTV. “Second half I thought we were magnificent. Absolutely magnificent. We stepped on, we were aggressive, won the first ball, got on the second balls. Then we looked a threat and scored two really good goals.”
The boss was particularly pleased with the performances of his youngsters: “Karoy… I really like the kid. I love the kid, actually,” he said. “In my short time here he’s been everything that you want from a young footballer.”
“Daniel Kanu has been excellent. I thought Conor Coventry was excellent tonight, in how he went about his work. Especially given he’s been out of the team. I’ve demanded stuff from him and he’s come back today and reacted wonderfully well.”
The Addicks are unbeaten in four, a run which Jones is clearly thrilled with.
“We just played four of the form teams in the league,” he said. “Lincoln are flying, they’re doing really, really well. And we dominated the game – should have won that but we didn’t. Then we played the top three, and haven’t lost. I’d have taken that absolutely all day long.
“Now we’ve got to keep that going, keep maintaining that, because we’ve got some big games coming up.”
Despite that form, Jones wants to keep his players’ feet on the ground. “There’s a good mood in the changing room at the minute, but it’s only one win,” he explained.
“I can’t remember the last time they won, so let’s not get carried away. There’s a lot of hard work to be done. We’re setting platforms, we’re putting foundations in place to hopefully give us a springboard for the future.”
After the victory the gaffer raced over to celebrate with the fans, and he was keen to thank them for their support.
“It’s outstanding that 700 would travel up here on a Tuesday night,” he said. “After the home game, with games coming up, and especially because of where we are in the league. The Charlton fans are absolutely outstanding.”
“I’m as big a Charlton fan as anyone now.”
