Mark Robinson rung the changes after being left ‘disappointed’ by his sides 1-1 draw with Wigan Athletic on Tuesday night. In came Ben Heneghan, Jaakko Oksanen and 19-year-old Ayoub Assal for his first start for the Dons.  

As for Nigel Adkins, who has been out of a job since leaving Hull City in 2019, the 56-year-old stood on the touchline as Charlton boss for the very first time this afternoon, having been appointed as Lee Bowyer’s replacement just 48-hours prior to the match.  

It only took 10 minutes for Charlton Athletic to score the first goal of the Nigel Adkins era.  

Jake Forster-Caskey picked up the ball in the centre of the pitch and immediately sprayed a pass out wide to Liam Miller on the left.  

The winger drove forward, beat Luke O'Neill for pace, and whipped in a teasing ball for the swarm of red shirts occupying the penalty area.  

The ball landed at the head of Jayden Stockley, and the on-loan Preston North End striker planted the ball past Nik Tzanev to open the scoring in the feisty London derby.  

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But Mark Robinson has instilled a ‘never say die’ attitude into his relegation strugglers, and the Dons found an instant response just five minutes later through Ryan Longman.  

Joe Pigott fed Longman through on the edge of the box. Longman took one touch to go past Jason Pearce, and although his touch forced him wide, Longman squeezed an effort past Ben Amos to bring the hosts level.

But Charlton refused to let Longman’s equaliser ruin the Adkins welcome party. Liam Miller once again found space on the left, but this time he set his sights on goal himself.

Miller jinked through Luke O’Neil and quickly passed the ball to the waiting Diallang Jaiyesimi.

Jaiyesimi set himself up with his left foot and hammered home Charlton’s second, powering an effort past a helpless Tzanev to restore the visitors lead.  

Second half 

Wimbledon, who are desperate for points in their fight for survival, came out for the second half with a point to prove. Ayoub Assal skipped past the Charlton midfield and took aim from 25-yards out.

The ball cannoned off Akin Famewo and fell to Pigott on the edge of the box.  

The forward hit the ball first time, but due the rush to get his shot off, the effort would trickle wide of the post.  

Wimbledon’s intent continued to grow with Ryan Longman next to try his luck. But after a smart one-two with Jaakko Oksanen, the on-loan Brighton & Hove Albion forward could only drag his effort across the face of goal.  

Their hard work finally paid off on the 64th minute when Ryan Longman got his second of the match.  

Longman, who has been the attacking spark for Robinson’s side in recent weeks, pounced on a poor pass from Akin Famewo and rolled the ball into an empty net to send the Dons bench into pandemonium.

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The Dons could have secured all three points just moments later, but Joe Pigott’s effort agonisingly crashed against the post. 

With the pressure mounting, Pigott had one last opportunity to claim all three points for his side.

Substitute, Jack Rudoni, was scythed down on the edge of the box, which handed the Dons a dangerous opportunity in the dying embers of normal time. 

Pigott took the resulting free kick, arrowing the ball for the top corner. However, Ben Amos had other ideas, clawing the goal-bound shot away from the goal and saving his side a point. 

Charlton nearly stole all three in stoppage time, but Chuks Aneke got his angles all wrong and hammered his effort from 5-yards out onto the post. 

The point leaves the Dons in the bottom three, however, the performance was another boost to Robinson's side in their fight for survival. 

As for Charlton, the Addicks remain in the playoff places, and the dominant first half performance was an encouraging sight for the new boss.

More to follow...

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