Charlton claimed a shock 1-0 victory over Sunderland at the weekend to pull themselves further towards exiting the relegation zone at the bottom of League One - and George Dobson has told CharltonTV (via the club's official website) that he and his teammates have now 'set a standard' that he wants them to hit every week.
The 23-year-old has only featured in six league games so far this year but was solid for the Addicks in the centre of the field at the weekend and played his part in ensuring that the club pulled off a superb upset win over high-flying Sunderland.
With Charlton struggling at the bottom end of the table so far this season, it led to the sacking of manager Nigel Adkins before the game. With caretaker boss Johnnie Jackson taking the reins, the club managed to end a run of two straight defeats and make a real statement of intent going forward.
After such a superb showing from the side and a valuable three points in their battle at the bottom of the table, Dobson has now claimed his side have 'set a standard' for themselves - and he wants them to make sure they continue to hit that standard week-on-week now. Speaking to CharltonTV (via the club's official website), he said about the game: "For me, personally, it was obviously unbelievable but the team… you could just see out there we just ran for each other and gave absolutely everything.
"There was a lot of quality as well and that was with one and a half day’s worth of work with Jacko. So, we’ve obviously said in there [the dressing room] that that’s the bare minimum going forward. Some days you’re not going to be as good as on the ball, but if you put that work ethic in and work rate that gets you results in this league.
“We’ve set a standard and we’ve just got to make sure that every game we’re at that level really.”
The midfielder then believes his side can continue to kick on each week and start to get some more positive results on the table. If they can emulate their showing against Sunderland against other opponents - picking up a clean sheet, performing well across the park and bagging a crucial goal to give them the win - then there is no reason why they can't.
Whether under Jackson or whoever takes over next, if they can keep up to the 'standard' that Dobson mentions, then they could soon be putting the relegation zone in their rearview mirror.
The Verdict
George Dobson was solid in the centre of the field for Charlton at the weekend and the rest of his teammates also put in an impressive showing, to see off a team that will fancy their chances of not only a promotion this year but a crack at the league title too.
To hold them at bay and seal three points then is a massive step forward for the Addicks.
If they can start to pick up more results like this - with whoever becomes manager - then things will certainly start to look up for the League One side. For now, they'll have to take it one game at a time, starting with Doncaster Rovers in their next fixture.