CHARLTON goalkeeper Rob Elliot admitted his crucial penalty save in the 1-0 win against Notts County was as much luck as it was good judgement.

The 24-year-old has made a string of spot kick saves in his young career, most of which came during loan spells at Accrington Stanley.

And after keeping out veteran marksman Lee Hughes’ effort from twelve yards, the Addicks’ number one understandably had plenty to say about his set-piece skills.

Elliot said following the victory: “I was pleased. It’s always nice to save a penalty.

“It was good to save a penalty from someone of Lee Hughes stature, the last time he played against us he scored past me and it relegated us so it was nice to finish on a better note this time around.

“I knew Hughes was going to go down the middle and I expected him to hit it hard so I just favoured a side and dived a little bit later hoping he’d hit it more to my side and I managed to get a toe on it.

On his overall spot-kick record, Elliot continued: “At Accrington I had a really good record; it was one of those seasons where everything just went right, I think I saved six in a row and then two in a row.

“It’s nice to have that confidence knowing that you can save them, whether it’s with my toes like today, as long as you just keep it out.

“You just get a vibe off the player and where they’re going to go with the penalty, I usually look at their eyes and what they’re trying to do whether they’re playing mind games and trying to work it out.

“Sometimes it’s just dumb luck. You dive the right way not really knowing where they’re going to go. Today was a bit of both.

“I think I’m at about ten penalty saves now, I’ve worked out that I’ve saved over half of my penalties.

“I do save a lot so I was a bit gutted I wasn’t playing in the play-offs last year but that’s just one of those things.”

The save itself was indeed a bizarre one, as although Elliot committed himself to his left, Hughes’ straightforward blast travelled towards his feet enough for the Greenwich-born goalie to deflect it to safety with his toes.

And he admitted the chances of an easy tap-in for Hughes on the rebound played on his instinct in the split-second between shot and save.

He explained: “I was worried about the contact with my leg on the ball – instead of it just hitting my leg I actually kicked my leg towards it as it was rising as he hit it so I just tried to get it out of danger.

“It’s an instinct thing so you just dive and fling anything you can at it whether it’s a hand or a foot and just get something on it.

“I was more worried about the rebound coming straight back down on top of me and having Lee Hughes coming to smash me.”