Josh Edwards says Charlton Athletic stood up to the test as they came away with a 1-0 win at Cambridge United.
The U’s needed a win to maintain any realistic hopes of avoiding the drop to League Two, whilst the Addicks wanted to keep the pressure on the sides above them in the race for a top two finish.
Tyreece Campbell’s early strike settled an untidy encounter on an uneven pitch where the South Londoners had to battle hard for their victory.
Edwards said: “We knew that coming here today, the gaffer drilled it into us all week, that obviously Cambridge are fighting for their lives. We knew they were going to put pressure on us throughout the game, which is what they did. But thankfully, we stood up to it and took them three points, which we’re delighted about.
“It’s not an easy pitch, but both teams have to play on it at the end of the day. There’s certain things maybe you have to do a bit differently on a sort of bobbly pitch.
“If there’s certain bounces, usually you take a touch, but sometimes you just need to hook it on. But that’s part of the game and we knew that coming here, so both teams had to do it.
“They’re fighting for their lives. We’re trying to get ourselves promoted. There was a lot of, I wouldn’t say pressure, but there was a lot of riding on the game. We knew that coming here that we’re going to have to stand up to it and I’m glad we did and took home the three points.”
The shutout made it 19 in League One this season for Charlton – only Wrexham have kept more.
“The gaffer said to me when I first came down here at the start of the season that we need to keep more clean sheets,” added Edwards.
“He’s drilled it in for us since day one. We all know where to be, where our defensive structure is.
“We’ve worked on it all season. I think we pride ourselves on it and we’re glad we got another one today. It was massively important.”
Charlton look well set for a play-off place at the very least and still harbour hopes of automatic promotion.
Edwards added: “It’s exactly where you want it to be at the start of the season. I had a chance of getting promoted to the Championship. It’s what you want to do.
“It’s why I came. I want to push to get as high a possible level as we could. I’m absolutely delighted with the position we’re in.
“We’re all absolutely buzzing and I can’t wait to play again Friday (at home to Northampton Town).”
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