Charlton made heavy weather of defeating a depleted Exeter side that was reduced to 10 men following Daniel Nardiello’s 18th minute red card at thre weekend.

Here are Powell’s thoughts:
“I’m pleased because in our last two home games we drew, and we were ahead in both.
“You always want to bounce back, and as I’ve always said when you pick up one point, if you pick up three in the next game you are right along the way you want to be, and that’s getting an average of two points a game.
“It was a difficult game in many ways because I think that everyone expects, when a team goes down to 10, that you are just going to walk over them and that’s never going to be the case.
“I think Exeter have always played a decent style of football and they had their little 10-minute period in the second half where we didn’t really get to grips with it.
“We rode that out and then a well-taken goal from Dale sealed it on the day.
“So it was a clean sheet and another one chalked off with a win. I’m pleased that we’ve finally won after the last two home games,” said Powell.
Paul Tisdale went with just Rowan Vine up front following Nardiello’s dismissal and changed from five, to four at the back after the interval, with just three players in midfield and two strikers. It was not a ten men behind the ball rearguard action, Exeter continued to play their normal game though chances were obviously at a premium.
Powell continued:
“I’ve spoken to Paul Tisdale about it and he just said his player has carried on for four minutes.
“If you say something after 10 or 20 seconds, I think the referee leaves it but he carried on.
“I don’t know what he said to him but obviously it was bad enough for the referee to send him off.
“In real time, the shot doesn’t look over but I’ve seen it on the laptop and it looks like it’s over – but so does Chris Solly’s.
“His was over but there was a player on the line and I think the referee and the linesman’s views were obscured somewhat, so I suppose the score could have been 3-1.
“It’s little moments like that that do change games, obviously for them and for us and I think we got through a difficult game, especially with everyone thinking we needed to win at home again just to keep everyone happy, and we’ve done that.
“I was a little bit nervy but, as I keep saying, it was another learning curve for them.
“We’ve come from behind, we’ve been ahead, we’ve been pegged back and then today we were playing against 10 men.
“Over the course of the season, these things will happen to us, and we will be with 10 men and then what do we do?
“You practice on the training field, but when it comes to the real thing and the matchday, it can be difficult to reproduce. They saw it through and in the main we weren’t really in much danger over the course of the 90 minutes.”
Against out-of-form opponents, with a man advantage, playing at home, the Addicks should have turned in a more polished performance. Powell then mentioned Monday’s disappointing second half display against Sheffield Wednesday:
“I think we got sucked into Sheffield Wednesday’s style on Monday night in the second period and I think what does happen is the fans want us to get the ball up there and get out quite quickly but we can’t do that.
“Everyone here has seen when we do that, we tend to give it away. I said the key word today was patience – I said it before the game and especially at half-time that we just needed to pick our moments.
“If it went wide, I told them to keep switching play and said the more they (Exeter) are without the ball, the more they get frustrated.
“I’ve been there in my playing days and you can see it as a coach and manager that the opposition just get frustrated, and then you just pick them off. I suppose eventually we did that with Dale’s goal.
“I’m really pleased with our first goal, it was wonderful play and that’s when we are at our best when we eventually get it into the front two.
“It was a well taken goal and obviously Bradley enjoyed it with his West Country connections.
“2-0 is another win for us, it moves us up in the table, confidence remains high and we remain unbeaten,” concluded the manager.