Norwich players showed ‘really big heart’ to win at Charlton – Philippe Clement

Philippe Clement praised the “big hearts” of his Norwich squad after their 1-0 victory at Charlton continued their impressive form in 2026.

The Canaries have collected 33 points from a possible 45 this year under the Belgian head coach, with Danish midfielder Pelle Mattsson’s fifth-minute goal, his first since joining from Silkeborg in the summer, proving decisive.

Norwich got back on the winning trail after a 1-0 reverse at Southampton in midweek but Clement, who celebrates his 52nd birthday on Sunday, said: “I don’t see this a bounceback because everyone saw the performance in midweek. For me a bounceback is more from a bad performance.

“We know this is a hard place to come. Charlton are very physical and very direct. They had the whole week to prepare while we had the trip to Southampton and got back at around three o’clock in the morning to Norwich.

“It was a short turnaround and we have a number of injured players. We did not have much possibility to rotate the squad. My team brought a really good shift today: mentally, physically and tactically.

“We were really good on the ball and we were the dominant team. If it was only a physical battle we would lose this one, for sure, so we had to do it in a different way.

“They stayed calm and did the right things on the ball. The only thing we missed today was to score more goals. I think that also has to do with freshness.

“A lot of players played with a really big heart today and they won those duels.

“I’m happy for Pelle. Those are the things we work on in training – to get those kinds of shots. It’s good for players to get the reward in the game and to get confidence to do it more. He showed a lot of quality before his injury.

“It’s not about me, it’s about the players and fans.”

Charlton have lost three of their last four at The Valley. Kayne Ramsay hit the crossbar for the hosts in the second half.

Addicks boss Nathan Jones was left fuming at the performance of referee Will Finnie, who did not penalise Ruairi McConville for tugging the arm of Lloyd Jones inside the penalty area in the second half.

“We have to defend the goal better – we have conceded from the edge of the box by trying to be too safe and dropping in too much,” said the Welshman.

“We have enough situations around the final third to have created more than we did. We lacked quality and that bit of composure. That is our learning curve, we have to get better.

“There are some unacceptable decisions in the game. I have no doubt we will get another apology for a baffling decision. There are other ones I filmed and took in, which are on another planet. What are you seeing there? That has cost us today as well.

“Anywhere else on the pitch it is a foul on Lloyd. It is a foul all day long. It was three times the amount of contact than the one Oxford got a penalty for last week.

“Sonny Carey normally hits the target. Against Wrexham here their goalkeeper pulled off a world-class save. Today he had a chance and didn’t quite catch it right.”