Charlton caretaker Johnnie Jackson admits to ‘crazy 48 hours’ after comeback win



Posted Wednesday, March 17, 2021 by PA

Charlton caretaker Johnnie Jackson admits to ‘crazy 48 hours’ after comeback win

Charlton caretaker manager Johnnie Jackson admitted it had been a “crazy 48 hours” after watching his side claim a 3-2 League One comeback victory over Bristol Rovers from two goals down on Tuesday evening.

Lee Bowyer departed The Valley on Monday before taking charge at Championship side Birmingham, leaving his former number two and fellow Addicks favourite Jackson to manage the midweek fixture.

Of the appointment, Jackson said: “I took training yesterday and told the players I would be in charge of this game.

“I hadn’t yet spoken to (club owner Thomas Sandgaard), but he agreed it was the right move.

“I haven’t spoken to him about Saturday yet. I just had to trust in the lads. We got some good work done today in meetings. It’s been a crazy 24-48 hours.

“I’ve had a day-and-a-half to throw myself into this football match. That’s all I’ve focused on. After tonight maybe there will be discussions. I just wanted to give my heart and soul to this match.

“The lads will be off tomorrow, but Thursday the lads will be back in for another football match to prepare for. There are going to need to be conversations.”

The visitors took the lead after 18 minutes when Ian Maatsen felled Jonah Ayunga inside the Addicks penalty area, leaving Rovers skipper Luke Leahy to convert the resulting spot-kick.

Their second came after 32 minutes through Ed Upson before Charlton responded just one minute later thanks to Andrew Shinnie.

Jake Forster-Caskey curled in a free-kick three minutes before the break to level matter and the Reds then snatched victory in the 84th minutes through Conor Washington.

Rovers goalkeeper Joe Day was sent off in stoppage-time after preventing Chuks Aneke from breaking away in search of a match-sealing fourth to leave the visitors just one point above the relegation zone.

On the comeback performance, Jackson added: “The spirit they showed out there was amazing. When you find yourself down 2-0 in a game, to get back into it is going to take a monumental effort. And the lads did that.

“It was a roller coaster. I loved it. Well, in the end I loved it.”

Rovers manager Joey Barton, meanwhile, felt a few moments of bad luck proved crucial as the pendulum swung mid-match against his strugglers.

“We started superbly, arguably the best opening gambit of my tenure here,” he said. “We were unlucky not to be three or four ahead.

“It looked like there would only be one winner, but they scored a good goal to be fair to them and then after a disputable free-kick, we went in at 2-2 despite having the lion’s share of the half.

“You need a bit of luck in games like this and you tend not to get it at the wrong end of the table and you get it at the top of the table.

“Bodies were creaking because we don’t have the squad depth that we should have. No disrespect to our bench, but Charlton were bringing on Chuks Aneke and players like that and their player quality wasn’t dipping.

“I could be here all night talking about what needs to get better but what we can do in this moment is dust ourselves off and get ready for Saturday. Then in the summer, there needs to be an overhaul in many aspects of the football club.”

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