Charlton had to come from behind to snatch the three points at the Pirelli Stadium on Tuesday evening.

It was a poor game, and too many of Lee Bowyer’s team had off nights.

The Addicks’ performance lacked intensity – not for the first time in a Tuesday game.

Burton were the dominant force, and Nigel Clough will feel his team deserved the three ponts.

Though Clough’s dominated for long periods, they failed to capitalise on their chances. All they had to show for their night’s work was a disputed penalty.

The Brewers had the better of the early stages, and came close to taking the lead after 22 minutes.

Jed Steer produced a fantastic save to push an effort from Liam Boyce onto the bar. Levante Cole reacted quickest to turn the rebound home, but he was flagged offside.

The visitor’s respite was only short lived though.

Two minutes later, Burton took the lead in controversial circumstances.

Referee, Ross Joyce, adjudged Boyce to have been brought down in the area, and pointed to the spot. The decision looked extremely soft.

Skipper, Lucas Akins stepped up and sent Steer the wrong way, to give the hosts the lead.

But the advantage was short lived. Six minutes later, Charlton had a disputed penalty of their own. Karlan Grant went down in the area, following a challenge from Kyle McFadzean. Joyce took an age before pointing to the spot for a second time.

Grant took the penalty himself, and though Brad Collins got a hand to the kick, he could not prevent it from crossing the line.

The Addicks spent most o‎f the second period with their backs to the wall, but snatched a dramatic late winner.

Joe Aribo flicked on a right-wing corner from substitute, Jamie Ward, and Jason Pearce thundered in a close range header. The travelling fans – who had been in good voice all night – went delirious.

Bowyer described the win as a ‘smash and grab raid’, and added:

‎”But you dig deep, fight and compete to get the three points, so I am over the moon.

“Did we deserve the three points? No. It was 100 per cent smash and grab. But there have been a lot of games where we have deserved the three points and left with nothing this season, so I’m going to take the points and run.

“These Tuesday nights are the one that get you promotion. Come the end of the season, you have to dig deep.

“Our lads are tired from Saturday because they put a shift in, so I told them they had to dig in and give me 100 per cent and they’ll have a bit of a rest after this.

“All I ask is 100 per cent, dig in, fight and compete with each other and, again, it was a dogged team performance on a Tuesday night. That’s what you need on a Tuesday night and that’s what we’ve just done.”

He continued to praise his players effort, and reserved special praise for his skipper, Jason Pearce:

He’s just a warrior, isn’t he? He’s a leader and that’s why he’s our captain.

But they all did well tonight and all put a shift in. George Lapslie was literally everywhere, even when you didn’t want him to be! You just want him to keep his shape and stay in position, but he was everywhere!

“Jed Steer was outstanding. I thought he was excellent and some of the saves he made were very good.

“Everyone put a shift in and I’m really pleased for them.”

“We’ve just got to keep plodding along,” added Bowyer. ‎Like I’ve said before, we’re not even halfway through the season yet.

“We’re in a good position at the moment and near enough everybody above won as well, so it’s a long way to go with a lot of points to be played for.

“We’ve got another tough one in Blackpool away next and that’ll be just as hard as tonight. But we’ll have a bit of a rest now until our next league game so we’ll be ready for that.”

Charlton: Steer, Solly, Sarr, Bauer, Pearce ; Bielik (Ward 69), Lapslie (Dijksteel 90), Aribo, Fosu (Marshall 81); Grant, Taylor.

Subs (not used): Phillips, Stevenson, Ajose, Hackett-Fairchild.

Goals: Grant 32 (pen), Pearce 88,

Burton Albion: Collins; Brayford, McFadzean, McCrory (Sbarra 89), Allen; Fraser, Hsketh (Harness 73), Quinn, Akin; Boyce, Cole (Miller 67).

‎Subs (not used): Bywater, Buxton, Hutchinson, Wallace.

Goal: Akins 25 (pen).

Referee: Ross Joyce (Cleveland).

Attn‎: 2,348.

Next up is Doncaster at The Valley on Saturday in the FA Cup. It will be a much changed team that takes to the field for that game.