Nathan Jones says Charlton will not be taking their foot off the gas after they moved up to fifth in Sky Bet League One with a 1-0 win over Barnsley.
The Addicks have taken 15 points from their last six matches, the best record over that period in the division, with Macauley Gillesphey’s first-half free-kick strike clinching a third straight victory on Tuesday night.
It was Jones’ 50th league game in charge of the SE7 outfit and whereas his first task after being appointed in February was to pull them clear of relegation danger they look set to be in the promotion equation this time around.
Gillesphey put his 12th-minute free-kick under the Tykes wall and past keeper Jackson Smith for his fourth goal of the campaign. The defender also scored in stoppage time when Charlton pulled off a dramatic 2-1 win at Leyton Orient on Saturday.
“We want our centre-halves to score and he is one of the best technicians at this level in how he executes stuff,” said Jones. “I’ve asked him to add certain stuff to his game and he has.
“You only need to look at his record, he plays pretty much every week.
“No one is getting carried away. It is relentless at the moment but we have got to be right at it to realise what got us to this position – and then get better.
“It was a brilliant win against a very difficult side to play against. They looked very lively in the first half and we got the goal at a good time, which settled things a little bit. We made a few little tweaks in the second half and we were comfortable.
“Their front players are excellent…the likes of Davis Keillor-Dunn and Adam Phillips. They scored four at the weekend. They are a free-scoring side, so to keep a clean sheet against them was very good.
Barnsley had won three in a row but only had one big moment, with Keillor-Dunn unable to beat Charlton goalkeeper Will Mannion in the 17th minute.
Tykes boss Darrell Clarke said: “It was a frustrating night. We played some decent stuff first half, without that final cutting edge.
“DKD has a great opportunity, he works it for himself, and we concede a goal from an error.
“Everybody can see the problems we had. The lads looked a bit leggy with the injuries we had and we couldn’t find the equaliser.
“You don’t want to come and give a silly goal away but we did that. The response was good. DKD has that chance and then we huff and puff.
“It wasn’t for a lack of effort but you need that quality at times to come on and show it, we haven’t quite done that this evening.”
Clarke added: “It’s a tough place to come and it’s even tougher when you’re off the back of four games in 10 days and three away games.
“It was always going to be a difficult night for us but the boys put their bodies on the line, we had some playing with strains.”
