Charlton Athletic boss sets 'unity' demand ahead of Middlesbrough test
Middlesbrough will host Championship rivals Charlton Athletic at the Riverside Stadium on Wednesday night.
Charlton Athletic set themselves up for their midweek visit to Middlesbrough with an impressive home win against Birmingham City on Saturday.
The Addicks will continue to look nervously over their shoulders at the Championship relegation zone as the final 12 games of the season rapidly approach - but they made their lives a little bit easier when they edged out the ambitious Blues at the Valley at the weekend. A solid defensive display laid the foundations for what could be a big three points as Charlie Kelman got the only goal of the game with quarter of an hour remaining to ensure Nathan Jones’ side moved nine points clear of the bottom three.
Significantly, it also ended a run of four games without a win for Charlton as they now turn their focus towards their attempts to disrupt Middlesbrough’s push for promotion into the Premier League at the Riverside Stadium on Wednesday night. Jones was understandably delighted with his side’s win against Birmingham and stressed the need for unity as they look to preserve their Championship status over the coming weeks.
He told the Addicks club website: "We are building, Charlie [Kelman] is one person that we really believe in and we see him every day. I spoke to him for a long time after the game. He has been really sharp, really good this week and today's performance was excellent. We want to be front-footed so that every time we go forward there is an opportunity to score a goal. We had the better chances all round.
“If you keep clean sheets, you get opportunities to win games. We have to be build on that, when we build that foundation we can be more fluid and score more goals. The best teams in the world are built on hard work. If you outwork teams and you do the basics well then you always have opportunities of winning games, and that is what we are built on. We work hard because we want to achieve. We are on a journey. the fans back us, and we can move forward, there has been real unity."
What did Kim Hellberg say after Middlesbrough’s win at QPR?
The Swedish boss said after the win at Queens Park Rangers: “I am delighted. It was a good performance, and a good result. Very strong. I think the way we took control of the ball and how we moved them. I liked that, at a quite good pace, we moved them from side to side to open up those spaces so we could get those combinations we're very good at when we get higher up the pitch. How we defended our own goal in those situations where they were up was very, very good and impressive too. So, yeah, very good performance and four goals.”