Dean Holden praises Charlton resilience after Lincoln win

Dean Holden praised his Charlton side for a resilient performance on home soil as they claimed a 2-1 narrow League One victory over Lincoln at the Valley.

It was back-to-back league wins for the home side, who started their first game of the new year in impressive fashion, with goals from Scott Fraser and Corey Blackett-Taylor enough to see off the Imps.

“It is a result that we would not have got a couple of weeks ago,” said Holden.

“The psychology is really important to the players and I think we showed we were a bit of a gang in that second half in the nicest possible way.

“We showed that you have to produce in every moment to win a game of football – it is not just about being a nice football team. You have to do all the hard yards and as the game wore on, I thought we were in total control.

“It is a good confidence builder for everybody. The supporters stuck with us throughout every minute and that is important. I think they can see there is a team out there who are fighting for everything on the pitch.”

Holden’s side now prepare to face Manchester United in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals at Old Trafford on Tuesday with confidence.

As a Manchester United fan, the Charlton boss described his feelings as “surreal” ahead of the upcoming match.

Holden added: “I haven’t really thought much about it. The family will be up there and there are 28 of them that will have been all begging and borrowing tickets from people that we know.

“My old man has been a supporter his whole life – so it will be special for him.

“I am pleased for him that he will get to see me coming out at Old Trafford, but the focus has to be on the players and what a night they can have.

“We can go up there with the shackles off and show everyone who Charlton Athletic are.”

It is another loss on the road for Lincoln, with today’s result a run of four straight defeats away from home.

Lincoln manager Mark Kennedy said: “We’re disappointed that we didn’t get something – I thought we deserved it based on the second-half performance, especially with the opportunity at the end.

“I thought Danny (Mandroiu) was outstanding today and looked like a real top player, it was just unlucky. I thought in the second half, the lads came out and had a real good go.”