Ben purring after netting again

Ben Purrington is making goalscoring somewhat of a habit after popping up with the opener at Ewood Park on Saturday.

It is now two goals in two for the left-back, who made his loan move to The Valley permanent over the summer, after he scored the vital equaliser at Wembley back in May and the two goals came in very similar fashion, arriving at at the back post to steer the ball home.

“We can class it as two in two, but it’s been a while since the last one with pre-season in between!” said Purrington following the weekend’s 2-1 victory at Ewood Park.

“You know Jonny has got quality. As soon as I saw him with the ball and coming in you’re thinking ‘pick me out’. He put one on a plate for me last season at Gillingham and I should have scored. He’s done the same today and I’ve scored. Fair play to him, it was a good passage of play.”

The defender’s goal came at a time when the Addicks had soaked up a lot of Blackburn pressure and it set Lee Bowyer’s men on their way to taking control of the game.

Despite a bizarre own goal levelling matters for the host, Lyle Taylor’s back-heeled flick sealed the winner for Charlton with 13 minutes remaining and Purrington could not have been happier with the way the season has started.

“There’s no better feeling than that,” he explained.

“The first game of the season, three points - unreal. You saw we had to dig in right until the last kick of the game and the changing room was buzzing in there. We’ve worked all pre-season towards this and it paid off today.

Meanwhile, Purrington revealed his delight at making his return to SE7 following a memorable half-season loan last term and is relishing the challenge of testing himself in the second tier again.

“That was a key reason for coming back,” he said.

“The opportunity to play in the Championship. I’ve experienced being here last year and enjoyed every minute of it and it’s a pleasure to be back with the boys. I’m enjoying it again. Hopefully we can kick on again and do well in the Championship.”

“I went back to Rotherham for a few sessions in the summer knowing it was on the cards,” added Purrington.

“Coming back was always in the back of my mind. We got it done and I haven’t looked back. It’s a pleasure being back.”

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