Nigel Adkins reflected on a point gained as his side stretched their unbeaten to nine games with a goalless draw against Ipswich Town at The Valley on Saturday afternoon.
The Addicks administered the better chances but were unable to break down a resolute Tractor Boys defence.
Speaking post-match, the Charlton manager said: “That was a tough game - we highlighted that before. They got the ball forward and had a bit too much of the ball at the back for my liking, allowing them to get the ball into the final third of the pitch and obviously pen us in.
“We knew it would be energetic. Paul [Cook] was looking for a reaction and he’s got that. Again, for me, we didn’t press sufficiently well enough to stop the ball getting launched forward and then we’ve got to defend that. We addressed that and we were far better as the game went on so well done to the players for taking that on board. In that last half hour, we were the team more likely to go and win it, we were in good control and sometimes you just need that bit of magic to go and get that 1-0 victory and then you can build on that.”
“I can’t really remember Ben [Amos] having much too much to do - I think he made one save in the first half. The introduction of Ben Watson on the hour mark was pivotal for us I thought, because we actually started to pass the ball far better, trying to get the wide players on the ball in the attacking third of the pitch. We’ve kept a clean sheet and we’ve got another point on the board.
“I can’t control what other teams do. We need a certain amount of points to get in the play-offs and this is another point towards that. But as that goes, it narrows the amount of defeats or points you can drop trying to achieve that points total.”
The match was Adkins’ first in SE7 and the 56-year-old admitted he enjoyed the occasion, albeit without the Charlton faithful.
“We’ve got the feel of the place. It’s the first game for me playing at home at The Valley, it gives me an understanding of where we’ve got to try and keep improving on moving forward because it is a big, big pitch.”
“I know the home form hasn’t been at the top of the league as well as the away form has been this season so law of averages we’re going to get better in the games that we’ve got. We know we’ve got tough games, every game is going to be tough. Sometimes you need that little bit of fortune as you go. Today, we didn’t quite get it but we kept another clean sheet. We’re looking solid, we’re looking stable and again we’re looking to build on the things that we’ve been doing so far.”
The result, coupled with proceedings elsewhere, leaves the Addicks two points adrift of the play-off positions, with a game in hand on Portsmouth, ahead of the trip to Plymouth Argyle in midweek.
“What we’ve got to do now is take care of business now as best as we can and get ready for a very tough game away at Plymouth. It is going to be tough but we’ve got a positive momentum about ourselves and we’ve got to keep that going.”