Jackson: "My players responded to the fans"

Johnnie Jackson was quick to praise the Addicks’ supporters after his side recorded a first win in eight against Gillingham at The Valley on Tuesday.

Alex Gilbey’s 40th-minute strike ultimately proved decisive in SE7 as the Addicks prevailed against Neil Harris’ side.

“On the back of the run that we’ve had and on the back of a disappointing performance on Saturday, I said to the lads at home we need to give the crowd something to shout about,” Jackson told CharltonTV. “We needed to start on the front foot and they would get behind us. 

“I thought the supporters were absolutely magnificent and my players responded to it. I thought we started the game really well, I thought we were completely dominant in the first-half and the one-goal lead was the least that we deserved going in at half-time.

“I expected us to have quite a bit of possession, but they do sit in a low block at times, they close those spaces up and they make it difficult. So, we were going to have a lot of ball but we were going to have to move it quickly round the sides and try and isolate Corey Blackett-Taylor in one-v-ones. 

“I thought we managed to do that really well and we could even have done it more at times. Corey was a real threat - he always is with that pace - but it’s how you get him the ball and how quickly you can move it to give him those opportunities.”

The boss was thrilled to name Jayden Stockley and Conor Washington up front once again following the duo’s respective injuries, whilst Corey Blackett-Taylor was a constant thorn in the Gills’ side on his return.

“There’s no getting away from the fact that having Stockley and Washington as your front two gives you a real platform in games,” added Jackson. “It’s something that we’ve really missed. Neither of them have scored tonight but they were a real nuisance, they have a great partnership and they work well together. 

“Having someone like Corey available as well gives you that raw pace which every team wants that we haven’t quite had with him missing. We’ve had important players missing and that’s impacted our results. We’ve had to try and find another way and it’s been difficult, but I think you see tonight when we get those guys on the pitch we’re going to win football matches.”

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