Adkins on Charlton victory and the pre-match planning that paid off

Charlton Athletic boss Nigel Adkins said his side's prematch work on set pieces paid off after they sealed a 2-1 win at the Stadium of Light.

A Josh Scowen own goal gave Charlton the lead, the midfielder slicing an attemptedclearanceintotheroofofhis ownnetafterLeeBurgetriedto makeasavefromaRyanInniss header.

Sunderland boss Lee Johnson felt there was a foul committed in the build up, but conceded it was also 'soft' defending on his team's part.

The visitors then extended their lead in the second half when the Black Cats switched off at a thrown in, midfielder Alex Gilbey breaking into the box to score.

Adkins praised his goalkeeper Ben Amos for making some excellent saves through the contest, but said he felt his side could also have added more to their goal tally. “Itisabigwin,"Adkinssaid. "Sunderlandareagoodside and that was demonstrated today. They’ve got a chance of the top two. We've come away and won 2-1 and we could have scored some more.

"We could have had a penalty with the handball from Jayden Stockley’s header. We’ve hit the post, Jayden Stockley had an open goal really [after a] nice little cross from [Jaiyesimi].

"We hit the post in the firsthalf and we had a great opportunity in the first couple of minutes as well with a great cross that we talked about.

“I'm really pleased with the two goals that we did score, we’re a threat from set pieces," he added.

"Ryan Inniss scored from oneweworkedononthetrainingground.Wethoughtmaybe we could expose them a little bit in their left-back positions from throw-ins and we scored from that, getting a blindside midfield player to go and score and Alex Gilbey did that.

“So, a couple of things we talked about in preparation for the game was good but I must say we had to show that resilience and that grit, to comeawayfromhomeandplay against a good side.

“We’ve had to defend resolutely. We gifted them the goal to make it 2-1 to make it a little bitmoreexciting.Butourgoalkeeper[BenAmos]playedwell.

"Youbreakitalldown,we’ve gotsomuchmoretogive,especially in possession of the football.Butwe’vecomeawayfrom home, this is the important stage of the season where results are everything, and we’ve come away with another three pointsthatputsuswellandtrulyintheracefortheplay-offpositions.”