Nicky Ajose’s first-half goal was enough to hand Charlton a vital 1-0 win over promotion rivals Portsmouth.

This result followed up Tuesday’s victory against Shrewsbury and it moves the Addicks four points clear of seventh-placed Plymouth.

Charlton were rarely troubled and held firm in front of nearly 2,500 travelling fans.

Lee Bowyer made three changes to the side that beat Shrewsbury with Ahmed Kashi, Ben Reeves and Ajose coming in for Anfernee Dijksteel, Mark Marshall and Stephy Mavididi.

Charlton were very aggressive in the first-half as Portsmouth struggled to get near their box. On a counter-attack, Ajose’s chipped ball was waiting to be struck on the volley by Josh Magennis, but a defender made a crucial interception.

Charlton continued to search for an opener and they came close through Jake Forster-Caskey when his goal-bound shot was cleared by Nathan Thompson after goalkeeper Luke McGee was beaten.

The visitors spurned numerous counter-attacking opportunities, and Ajose was guilty of wasting the best one after his pass was too short for Tariqe Fosu during a three-on-three attack.

But the striker more than made up for it on 40 minutes as he raced on to Magennis’ flick-on to slot home his first Charlton goal since December 2016.

If their decision-making was better, Bowyer’s men could have had a two or three-goal lead. The Fratton Park faithful made their feelings clear at the break. Barring a Matt Clarke header that Ben Amos easily gathered, Portsmouth’s threat was nullified by Charlton.

Pompey boss Kenny Jackett would have laid into his players and his side came out firing in the early stages of the second-half. Clarke headed over an inviting free-kick from close-range before Brett Pitman failed to hit the target after turning Patrick Bauer.

Fosu was nearly through on goal following a cleared corner, but slipped and held his leg in pain in the 51st minute - and subsequently, he was substituted before the hour mark.

Charlton suffered their first real scare of the afternoon when the ball fell to Kal Naismith, who was thwarted by an outstanding last-ditch block from Ezri Konsa.

And the Addicks responded to that by nearly doubling their advantage. Reeves hit a well-timed volley against the post after a corner was half-cleared.

Amos had to come to Charlton’s rescue late on to make his first serious saves of the game when he denied Stuart O’Keefe from 10 yards, before palming away a Pitman free-kick.

Charlton XI: Amos, Konsa, Bauer, Pearce, Page (Marshall 62), Reeves, Kashi, Forster-Caskey, Fosu (Dasilva 56), Magennis, Ajose (Kaikai 90).

Subs not used: Phillips, Lennon, Aribo, Zyro.