Nathan Jones praised his Charlton side for the way they handled League One high-fliers Wycombe Wanderers at The Valley.
Miles Leaburn’s quickfire brace at the start of the second half – taking the striker to eight goals in all competitions – earned a 2-1 victory for the hosts.
Charlton’s play-off aspirations looked to be fading badly but three successive victories have now pulled them back into the equation.
Richard Kone’s consolation strike relied more on a quality finish than Wycombe opening up the Addicks rearguard, and Jones said: “These are the top scorers in the league but we limited them to very little. It was a good performance from start to finish.
“We had most, if not all, of the big chances. We fear no one. We have been outstanding against all the top sides in the league.
“We’re unbeaten in five, three clean sheets in that and only conceded twice.
“At times in the second half he (Leaburn) was unplayable – when he got the bit between his teeth, after the goals and when he got kicked. He looked fantastic. There is a lot of hype around him. There is a footballer there, if people trust us with his development then we will develop him into a wonderful centre-forward, because we have got a very, very good record of doing that.”
Wycombe arrived in SE7 on the back of a 19-game unbeaten run in the league – 14 of those victories.
But the Chairboys struggled to create until Kone came off the bench to bag his 15th goal of the campaign.
“Too much of the game was down the middle of the pitch – we needed to spread and use the wings more,” said Wycombe boss Matt Bloomfield. “The boys kept going, we know they will keep fighting, but we couldn’t quite find that final touch.
“Eighty-seven points in 45 games (in 2024) is some return, considering where we started.
“I was sent a couple of screenshots (from social media) about what was going around last year and it was tough to read. It shows that football is all about momentum, doing your best at all times and believing in what you do. It has been some turnaround – a fantastic return.
“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve done over the calendar year but what I do know is we’re hungry for more and want to keep improving.
“It’s another quick turnaround (to play Exeter on Wednesday). We need to watch today back to see what worked and what didn’t. We played Exeter only a few weeks ago so we can watch that again and see what we need to improve from that day.
“It’s about physically and mentally getting the boys going again – keeping that freshness.”
