Charlton 1-0 Stoke

Lloyd Sam's strike on 83 minutes earned Charlton a hard-fought victory over promotion rivals Stoke at The Valley.

Midfielder Zheng Zhi should have given his side the lead in the first half, but his shot struck the post and was cleared to safety by Danny Pugh.

Ricardo Fuller kept Charlton's defence busy and forced Nicky Weaver into a series of second-half saves.

But the hosts sealed the three points lat on when Sam latched on to head home Luke Varney's cross from six yards.

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Charlton boss Alan Pardew:
"I'm pleased with the quality and patience we showed, that was a big, big win for us.

"Recently, we've played well but we needed to back that up with a win.

"I've played against Premier League sides who haven't defended as well as Stoke. But we wouldn't give in and fortunately we got the break."

Stoke boss Tony Pulis:
"We worked hard off the ball but we didn't play as well as we can.

"But we still created five or six chances and Ricardo could have had a couple of goals.

"To put it in perspective, we've played a team who have just got relegated and who have millions of pounds worth of players on the bench."

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Charlton: Weaver, Moutaouakil, McCarthy, Bougherra, Youga, Sam (Semedo 86), Holland, Zhi, Ambrose (Jerome Thomas 71), Gray, Iwelumo (Varney 66).
Subs Not Used: Randolph, Fortune.

Stoke: Simonsen, Griffin, Cort, Shawcross, Dickinson (Parkin 87), Lawrence, Eustace, Delap, Pugh, Cresswell, Fuller..
Subs Not Used: Hoult, Pulis, Diao, Zakuani.

Booked: Griffin.

Att: 22,108

Ref: Mark Haywood (W Yorkshire).