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Charlton Athletic's Bradley Pritchard writes for the KM Group

Bradley Pritchard
Bradley Pritchard

It certainly was hard earned but it was great to leave Vicarage Road with a 1-1 draw on Saturday.

I thought we looked solid and we seemed to cope with a lot of what they had to offer and I guess overall, we were happy with a point.

Last year at Watford there was a bit more excitement – real end-to-end stuff, so I think we tried to be a lot more secure this time around.

We were a lot more stable at the back on Saturday and tried to cope with their counter-attacks but it’s a tough place to go and they’re a good team.

I think a big reason for our improved performances has been the change to a 3-5-2 formation.

It gives us a lot more opportunities to bomb on and join in with the forwards, so what might seem quite defensive is actually quite attacking for the midfielders like myself.

Everyone seems to benefit from it so hopefully the performances will continue and we’ll get some more positive results going forward.

I have to admit that, despite looking more stable at the back, my heart was in my mouth towards the end.

Watford had a penalty appeal in what felt like the 98th minute when the ball struck Dorian Dervite’s hand in the area.

I did see his arm go back and it’s one of those ones that if it happened to us, we’d be appealing.

On another day, a different referee may have pointed to the spot because although it was accidental, I the referee had a big decision to make.

Of course, we’re pretty happy that it went our way because most people who were at the game would probably agree we deserved something from it.

After that, it is was disappointing to lose at Huddersfield on Tuesday because it was another tight match decided by a moment of brilliance.

I think that’s the fourth time we’ve played them in 2013 and having only won once, we’re a bit sick of them now!

Our focus has now switched to Saturday’s local derby against Millwall because we know how much it means to the fans and we’re desperate to get a good result for them.

Our record last year against them was not great but on Saturday, with your support at The Valley, hopefully we can go some way to putting that right.

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