Charlton Athletic midfielder Greg Docherty has marked their most recent victory as a “brilliant early christmas present”, after a difficult start to the season in League One.
The captain scored two of Charlton’s five goals away at Northampton Town on Saturday afternoon, a result which ended a run of four games without a win in all competitions, where they had only registered one goal. But that win has taken them to 11th in the table, just four points away fro the play-offs as the busy festive football schedule approaches.
Speaking to club media following the game, the Scottish midfielder was keen to address how important three points before Christmas can be for the group going forward:
“It’s a brilliant early Christmas present”
“For us as a team and the fans that followed us here today, it was the perfect away performance. It has been coming, it is easy to say that, we have kept on talking about it in the dressing room but it is important to go out there and do it on the pitch. From the 11 that started the game and the ones that came on, it was a real collective effort. That needs to be shown more consistently.”
“You can’t knock a 5-0 win away from home, these are the days you work hard for, you go through difficult periods. I am so happy for everyone involved at the club.”
Docherty was also keen to add the fact that a performance like this was in the making at Charlton, admitting they had been unlucky in recent times to not deliver more standout victories like this one, and give the supporters a day out to remember. It was the first time The Addicks had scored five goals in a game since August 2022, when they beat that seasons’ League One champions Plymouth Argyle at The Valley.
“It’s more so that we have been talking about a performance like this. It has been difficult; we haven’t scored as many goals as we should have. We are solid at the back defensively and solid in the midfield, but we have not scored, today like I have said, it clicked. We played the way we know we can, the way we do in training with freedom in and around the box. We looked so dangerous, it was a joy to play in, especially with the front three.”
Writer’s View
On paper, Charlton Athletic have the squad to compete with the best teams in League One, and we saw this earlier in the season when they beat high-flying Birmingham City. The issue is, performances like that have been few and far between under manager Nathan Jones this season.
As captain Docherty says though, there is serious potential for The Addicks to kick on over the festive period after the comfotable win at Northampton, with struggling Cambridge United the opponents on boxing day, a pefect chance to build momentum ahead of the visit of league leaders Wycombe Wanderers three days later.
