NICKY Bailey has found himself targeted by opposition players and fans alike on many an occasion – but the Charlton skipper revealed he thrives under the pressure.

Bailey has been involved in plenty of controversy so far this season, not least when he returned to former club Southend last month and vilified himself further in the eyes of Shrimpers fans for his part in Jean-Francois Christophe's red card.

And in the local derby against Gillingham on Saturday, he found himself drawn into a tit-for-tat battle with Gills midfielder Adam Miller, something that both players later admitted tends to come naturally to each of them.

Of Miller, Bailey said: “Miller’s always been quite a dirty player and he leaves his foot in, and he tried to do me in the last header of the game but it’s part and parcel of the game and if the ref doesn’t see it, he doesn’t see it.

“He said a few things to me at the start, I reacted to what he said and it went on from there. He didn’t really say anything in the second half, it was mainly in the first half.

“But that’s football. People try and wind other people up and see where it gets them.”

Bailey seems well aware of his growing reputation as a man rival clubs love to hate, but admitted that such as with the Miller exchanges it goes in both directions and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

He added: “I know their manager would have said to try and target me; it was the same at Southend. There are a lot of people that try to do it and I’m aware of it so I just let them get on with it.

“I’m a fiery player myself and I like that being in my game. If that’s not in my game sometimes I tend not to perform as well so I don’t mind it and I relish it to be fair.”

And with a difficult trip to the Galpharm up next for the Addicks, the captain also highlighted the importance of a good result against Huddersfield towards Charlton’s minimum goal of a spot in the playoffs.

He explained: “Huddersfield are the first team outside the playoffs and we want to keep as far away as we can from that team. We’re playing them on Saturday so it’s a potential six-pointer.

“If we can get a result up there it keeps them another six points away from us with only eight games to go.

“Our first aim is to be in the playoffs and then after that is maybe automatic promotion but that’s out of our hands, it’s in Leeds’ hands and if we win enough games it will be enough.”