100 (AND A BIT) YEARS OF PRIDE & PASSION

Charlton threatened to run riot yesterday, 2-0 up within ten minutes and such was the disarray of the Stockport back line that most present at the game would have been expecting a cricket score. Surprisingly, the Addicks failed to add to their tally.

"At the business end of the season it's about getting the points on the board. I think a lot of people expected us to turn up and beat them four or five nil.

"We got lucky with the first and got a good second goal, but it was all about winning the game. We started brightly and got the goals but they upped their game. It would have been nice to get a couple more but it wasn't to be. There will be ups and downs between now and the end of the season, we've got to make sure there are more ups than downs. Winning when you're not at your best is the sign of a good team.

"I was surprised Leeds drew and we'll be there or thereabouts at the end of the season. Swindon Town got beaten by Bristol Rovers too and they'd have been expecting to win that," was how Kinsella interpreted the afternoon's events. The Irishman went on to explain why Charlton's claim for a penalty was turned down by Keith Stroud: "The arm went up but the referee said he'd had a great view and that it had hit his hip. We'll leave it at that. That would have made it 3-0 and we'd have been comfortable but 2-0 is always a risky scoreline because if they score it's game on.”

Kinsella went on to give an update on the injury picked up by Johnnie Jackson, who had to come off in the first half: "He had a hamstring injury and came off straight away. We'll know more on Monday when he has a scan. But with hamstrings, they can be OK or they can rule you out for two to three weeks. There are the few usual niggles in there but Jacko's the serious one.

The coach was full of praise for Jackson's replacement, Chris Solly, who played out of position on the left: "I think Solly is an exceptional player. He played out of position but he just gets on with it. It doesn't faze him. He'll make mistakes but the crowd will back him and we just tell him to go out there and enjoy himself. People see he's five foot eight but the kids got a brain, he can play football and I thought he did very well today.

"We always bring kids through if they're good enough and he's been knocking on the door. Unfortunately for us, left-back has been a problem for us this season but he's able to do a job there. He times his runs well, puts good crosses in and very rarely gives the ball away. He's getting more games at left-back than his normal position but his attitude is outstanding,” said Kinsella who continued his summing up of the club's injury situation: "Deon trained yesterday and he was ready to be on the bench. He gave us a little bit more attacking threat. I think we'll wait until the end of the season. We look after him in the week but if it gets too bad he'll know.

"Kelly Youga's back on the training ground running. He hasn't seen a ball yet but we'll see how the next few days go with him. He's a decent athlete and he looks after himself but he's been out for a couple of months now so we'll assess him later on.”

Mark went on to say how the club will prepare for the derby game at Millwall followed by the visit of Gillingham: "We're going to enjoy the result tonight and then that will be looked at on Monday. I know the fans have been talking about that game for the last few weeks but now we can turn our attentions to it. As a player you must be looking forward to it, they're great games to play in, the atmosphere will be fantastic.

"The build up will be the same as any game. We'll go through videos and analyse their players, before we put a team out against them that can get a win. If they don't already know it, we'll drill into the players how important this game is to the fans. I'm sure Millwall will fancy their chances too so it should be an interesting game.”

"Of the two, Millwall is the bigger one but we can only take the games one at a time. The fans will be looking forward to it though as it's at home.”

With Leeds facing a tricky trip to Southampton, Charlton could strike a huge psychological blow on Saturday. The New Den was where Leeds surrendered their unbeaten league record.

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