Lloyd Jones has praised the mentality of Charlton Athletic’s players as they equalled a club record with their 20th clean sheet of the season in Monday’s 4-0 win at Wycombe.
The Addicks vice-captain put the Addicks on their way to victory in Buckinghamshire when he produced a first-time finish from Greg Docherty’s left-wing cross.
But just as important was the manner in which Jones completely snuffed out the threat of Wycombe striker Richard Kone, third in the League One scoring charts with 18 goals.
The three previous times that Charlton collected 20 shutouts they won promotion – 1980-81, 1997-98 and 2011-12 – and they can set a new best if they keep out either Wrexham tomorrow or Burton Albion on the final day.
“It means a lot,” said Jones, asked about matching the record.
“Especially coming off the back of last season when we kept nowhere near enough clean sheets.
“To turn that around and have that mental strength of not shipping goals, I’m really proud of the team and defensive unit for doing that.
“It was just a really good day out (at Wycombe). To score four and keep a clean sheet, you can’t ask for much better, really.
“When we score first we are a really tough side to break down after that. So the first goal in these type of games is crucial.”
Charlton quickly doubled their advantage when Luke Berry lashed in – Jones again involved as his header from a Thierry Small cross was only half-cleared.
“What a finish,” said Jones. “I was right next to it – the ball went past my face. He can do that Bez, he is so good at finishing and we see that all the time in the training.
“Every time he gets a shot like that I almost back him more to score than miss.”
Matty Godden and Karoy Anderson piled on the misery with second-half goals.
“We said at half-time that we were 2-0 up against Wycombe at home and let them back into the game,” said Jones. “We want to go out and get the third goal, not just be a defensive team when we get ahead.”
PICTURES: KYLE ANDREWS
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