CHARLTON defender Matt Taylor insisted it was a case of one point gained rather than two dropped at Scunthorpe on Saturday.

The Addicks achieved their first point in a fortnight following back-to-back home defeats against Colchester and Notts County.

Despite being pegged back by a John Parkin penalty after Bradley Wright-Phillips’ 20th goal of the season had given Charlton an early lead, the defender was pleased with the start his side made to the game after two disappointing results.

Taylor said: “I thought we started off excellently.

“We got the early goal and I thought during the first 25 minutes it was the best we’ve played in a long time.

“But we let them back into the game with a sloppy goal from our point of view.

“In the second half they put us under real pressure, so credit to Scunthorpe, they play a certain way, which is very direct.

“We had to deal with it and to be honest we’re pleased with a point.”

Many still regard the Iron as one of the best footballing sides to visit the Valley this season after they took a point from Charlton in August by fighting back from two goals down late on to earn a share of the spoils.

But Saturday’s 1-1 draw was a very different type of encounter, as Taylor admitted.

He said: “Here at Scunthorpe they’ve got a tight pitch.

“It’s not the best surface in the league and they’ve got a couple of big lads up front.

“They play a certain way but we had to be ready for that.”

Saturday’s game saw Taylor test himself against John Parkin again, who started for Huddersfield when they visited The Valley in November.

Parkin is nicknamed ‘The Beast’ and the Addicks’ vice-captain wasn’t shy in expressing what sort of challenge the big target man posed.

“He’s a handful, an absolute monster,” Taylor explained.

“Physically he is very strong and he’s very good in the air.

“When they hit direct balls at John, he’s going to win his fair share of them in the air.

“I thought we dealt with him pretty well today.

“He didn’t cause us too many problems in the first half, but in the second half he came more into the game but we stood up to it well.”

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