Ambrose claims Palace defeat inspired Addicks

9:32am Monday 6th October 2008

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DARREN Ambrose was ecstatic at the final whistle after the Addicks bounced back from an all time low on Tuesday evening with a much needed 2-1 victory against Ipswich on Saturday.

The Charlton midfielder claimed the sour taste left from the trip to Selhurst Park was more than enough inspiration for the players to put the derby debacle behind them and get their play-off bid back on track.

He said: "We needed that. We've been on a poor run in the last few games where we haven't picked up many points.

"I think at 1-1 last year we would've lost that game, but the team's character shone through and we are delighted.

"We were heartbroken on Tuesday in the dressing room. We didn't perform especially in the second half and it was looking downhill for us.

"But we've got a lot of characters in the team and we bounced back, got some good training under our belt and today we wanted it more than them all over the pitch.

"It is a hard thing to take as a footballer when people are labelling you as not trying.

"I think that is what we were labelled after the Crystal Palace game and it hurt us."

Ambrose added: "If you're not performing then you have to accept criticism and take it the same way as praise.

"It is early days still. What you need is to go into these games with confidence which we can do now and hopefully we can push up the league.

"We wanted to get back on the pitch and put things right after the Palace game and everyone from the goalkeeper to the front men was magnificent today."

Ambrose was also confident the remainder of season would be spent nearer the top of the table than the bottom.

He said: "We are back on form now and we are going to go into training every day and look to try and recreate performances like that and hopefully we can go to Cardiff with a lot of confidence.

"We are looking up the table now and we need to go on a run which we didn't do last year, so hopefully now we can get more good performances as well as the three points."