Nathan Jones praised his Charlton players after they fought back to claim a 1-1 draw at home to Lincoln.
The Addicks are only one place above the relegation zone with Port Vale and Cheltenham, the two clubs immediately below them, both with matches in hand.
It needed a smart finish by Freddie Ladapo from the edge of the penalty area in the 73rd minute, just moments after he was brought on, to cancel out Reeco Hackett’s goal in the first half.
Charlton have not won a match since November 28 – an unwanted run of 14 league matches and 16 in total.
Next up are the top three of Bolton, Derby and Portsmouth.
It was a first point for Jones since he was appointed boss on February 4.
“It’s a young group but everything I asked for they responded,” said the Welshman. “It’s only a start and a point but I saw a lot I was pleased with.
“At the moment everything is going in against us – it’s a great strike (by Hackett) but if they keep that level of energy and aggression then we will be very hard to play against and we will win games.
“This won’t just change overnight. We will turn into the team we want to be. I’ve been in football 33 years and the one thing about this group is they are honest.
“Freddie hadn’t scored in five games that he started but we pulled him and said we would try something different.
“He’s a nine and Alfie May is the 10. He has had to take a lot of battering for not a lot of reward – sometimes when you come on it changes the dynamic and there is a bit more space. He was excellent.”
Lincoln were hunting a third straight victory but had to settle instead for extending their unbeaten run to six matches.
“When you look across the two halves, we were better in the first and then in the second they came out and threw everything at us,” said Imps head coach Michael Skubala.
“In the end it was a really good away point, with the way we stood up to their attacks and the noise in the stadium.
“We knew they were going to put it on us and we had to deal with that. I felt we did well in the last 20 minutes to hold out for a point.
“We hit the post (through Danny Mandroiu) before it became 1-1 but I think a point’s fair across the two halves. The backline stood up to it and Lukas Jensen was immense too.
“We’re unbeaten in six, still picking up points and we had to be careful with Ben House and Freddie Draper tonight for instance, and play a few players slightly out of position but hopefully we’ll start to get bodies back.
“Conor McGrandles will be back available on Saturday as he couldn’t play against his parent club tonight.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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