Olly Groome reports from The Valley
Karl Robinson is eager to keep the momentum going to finish the season strongly after securing a seventh point from three games with a 3-0 victory over Gillingham at The Valley on Monday.
Jason Pearce got the ball rolling with his first for the club, before a trademark Ricky Holmes free-kick and Josh Magennis’ strike ensured the Addicks eased to victory over the relegation-threatened Gills.
And with Charlton’s League One safety now all-but confirmed, Robinson has set his eyes on a good finish in the final two league games of the season and a positive mood heading into the summer.
“We rode our luck a little bit today,” he said.
“There was some poor finishing from them, but we took our chances when they came along.
“It’s an important win and it will be nice to finish with two more good performances. It’s important that we keep up the momentum.
“We knew it would be difficult without Chris Solly today, but I thought the two full-backs, Nathan Byrne and Jay Dasilva, were tremendous. Crofty had a job to do against one of the best number 10s in the league in Bradley Dack and he really stunted his game today which was a key component to our game plan.
“I’m pleased for Josh [Magennis], I thought he worked very hard and it was an important goal for him to kick-start his end to the season. If we can finish with the players in a better frame of mind, it will set us up well for the future.”
“There were aspects today when we moved the ball very quickly,” continued Robinson.
“But there were times when we got too comfortable and we slowed the ball speed down.
If you want to be a good team, you have to keep that speed to a maximum and move the opposition. We didn’t rotate properly at times in the first half – we got disjointed – but when we stuck to our game plan, we caused them big problems.”
Meanwhile, the Addicks’ boss has made it clear of his intentions to stage a promotion push next term, with a positive end to this season providing a springboard.
“There are teams up and down the country winning promotion today and I’m jealous of that,” he explained.
“I want The Valley to be rocking and have our fans celebrating together with our players. There has to be a burning desire in us to go and move this club forward and that has got to be our main aim – nothing less than that.
“Hopefully, I can bring that continuity and passion back into the team and they are starting to show it.”