HARRY Clarke said Charlton Athletic wanted to “set it straight” as they bounced back from their derby defeat at Millwall with a 2-0 victory against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.
After their 4-0 trouncing by the Lions, the Addicks scored twice in the first half in Foxes interim boss Andy King’s first game in charge.
Leicester defender Caleb Okoli was sent off in the fifteenth minute for pulling back Miles Leaburn.
Clarke had a header controversially ruled out for an apparent foul by Leaburn before the away side took control.
Sonny Carey put Nathan Jones’s side ahead in the 36th minute before January signing Lyndon Dykes added the second four minutes into first-half added-time, both goals assisted by two more winter recruits, Clarke and Luke Chambers, respectively.
Leicester wasted a chance to get back into it in the second half after Abdul Fatawu was pulled back by Amari’i Bell, only for Jordan Ayew to hit the post with his penalty
“Last week was nowhere near good enough and we wanted to set it straight this week, for the fans and for ourselves and it feels great,” Clarke said.
“It wasn’t a great mood after the Millwall game, and it shouldn’t have been, it was nowhere near good enough.
“We have a lot of games between now and the end of the season, and hopefully we can kick on from this and carry on.”
“The supporters have been brilliant, they are the twelfth man. We knew coming here it was going to be a tough game, even when they were down to ten men they still had spells, but [the fans] kept us going through it. Those last ten minutes, my legs were gone, but they still kept shouting.”
Charlton moved six points clear of the relegation zone ahead of their London derby against Queens Park Rangers at The Valley this Friday.
“I am very pleased, especially with the first half. We picked an aggressive side, we were really front-footed against them, and we were excellent. We really took the game to them,” Jones said.
“We scored two very good goals. I was really pleased with how we saw the game out. They had a ten-to-fifteen-minute period in the second half where they got on top. We changed, we flipped it, and we really got a grip of the game back.”
“We got after them aggressively early on, and that led to a red card. We scored three good goals, because there is nothing wrong with the goal from the corner, I am baffled with that. The win was everything today, we had a little bit of luck with the penalty, but I am pleased with the manner of the goals.”
“There was quality in both goals and I am really pleased with that because we are demonstrating that we have that.”
Over 2,000 Addicks fans made the trip.
Jones added: “I want to thank the fans. It would be so easy to panic and get carried away. Last week was emotional for everyone.
“I wanted to give the fans something this week, to show that we care about this club. The fans were absolutely magnificent today, and I want to thank them personally.
“I saw a team today that wanted to win a game, that wanted to defend the box and wanted three points and that is all I can ask for.”
