'Paul was looking for a reaction and he's got that' - Adkins on Town draw

Adkins, whose side made it nine games unbeaten and moved within two points of the play-off places, admitted Paul Cook's men had proved a real test though.

He said: "That was a tough game - we highlighted that before. They got the ball forward and had a bit too much of the ball at the back for my liking, allowing them to get the ball into the final third of the pitch and obviously pen us in.

Ipswich boss Paul Cook directs his players at Charlton (Image: Pagepix Ltd 07976 935738)

“We knew it would be energetic. Paul (Cook) was looking for a reaction and he’s got that. Again, for me, we didn’t press sufficiently well enough to stop the ball getting launched forward and then we’ve got to defend that.

"We addressed that and we were far better as the game went on so well done to the players for taking that on board. In that last half hour, we were the team more likely to go and win it, we were in good control and sometimes you just need that bit of magic to go and get that 1-0 victory and then you can build on that.”

Adkins added: “I can’t really remember Ben (Amos) having much too much to do - I think he made one save in the first half.

"The introduction of Ben Watson on the hour mark was pivotal for us I thought, because we actually started to pass the ball far better, trying to get the wide players on the ball in the attacking third of the pitch. We’ve kept a clean sheet and we’ve got another point on the board.

“I can’t control what other teams do. We need a certain amount of points to get in the play-offs and this is another point towards that. But as that goes, it narrows the amount of defeats or points you can drop trying to achieve that points total.”