West Bromwich Albion 0 Charlton 1

CHARLTON boss Alan Curbishley insists you should never get too down in defeat nor too high in victory.

So it comes as no surprise that he is taking Saturday's success against West Brom calmly in his stride without over indulging on a job well done.

Inwardly, he will feel elated. Back-to-back away wins in the Premiership should be savoured. It does not get much better than six points and successive clean sheets on the road.

Curbishley's satisfaction was best illustrated at the final whistle when he strode onto the pitch and shook each of his players by the hand.

The days when Charlton suffered four-goal drubbings at Bolton, Manchester City and Arsenal seem a long time ago.

It was hard to believe they had leaked 19 goals in eight away games as obdurate defending easily dismissed Albion's challenge.

Charlton are now a different side from the one that suffered giddy spells every time it travelled north of Watford.

With skipper Matt Holland and Radostin Kishishev now deployed just in front of the back four, behind a midfield trio of Danny Murphy, Jerome Thomas and Dennis Rommedahl, the Addicks are no longer a soft touch on the road.

The team’s reward can be found in the state of the Premiership table: 8th place, 24 points and, significantly, a once appalling goal difference whittled down to a more respectable minus eight.

Curbishley said after the game: "I thought we looked comfortable without being relaxed. I can't remember Dean Kiely making too many saves.

“But I'm really pleased because two 1-0 wins in a week has changed our season around.

"We let in eight goals in the first two away games at Bolton and Manchester City that provoked a lot of criticism, which was needed and the players have responded.

"If you keep clean sheets then you've got a chance. We've had an inconsistent start but the confidence looks as though it's there."