Charlton Athletic's desire to retain their Championship status has seen them respond admirably to the derby disaster at Millwall
Bookies odds reflect fact it would took a sizeable setback for Addicks to get sucked back into real peril of relegation
Greg Docherty roars with delight after Charlton’s victory against Stoke City on Wednesday evening/Picture: Paul Edwards
The 4-0 loss to Millwall on January 24 felt like a sink-or-swim moment for Charlton Athletic. Humbled in a derby. Questions asked about their quality and character. Doubts about whether they had the fortitude to stay in the Championship.
But since that deflating and gloomy defeat at The Den, Nathan Jones’ side have opted to swim.
Front crawl, breaststroke or butterfly - whatever floats your boat. Even doggy paddle. Just anything that sparked momentum and took Charlton forward.
Wednesday night’s 1-0 victory over Stoke City pushed the south Londoners seven points clear of the bottom three. The gap is only one point more to sixth-placed Wrexham, even though the Addicks stayed in 18th place.
Charlton are not getting promoted this season. But they also now look to be in a very strong position to consolidate their place in the Championship for the 2026-27 season.
The key thing is that the safety of the shoreline is now in sight for the 2025 League One play-off winners. Some of Charlton’s players will be on beaches from early May and it feels now like there is every chance they will be feeling satisfaction at a job well done rather than riddled with regret.
