Daryl Murphy scored twice and Freddie Sears once as the Blues comfortably beat Charlton 3-0 to record their fourth successive victory at The Valley. Murphy put Town in front in the 28th minute, Sears added the second just before half-time and the Irish international sealed the three points on 68.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles returned at right midfield in place of the injured Kevin Bru in an otherwise unchanged Blues side with Freddie Sears again on the left of a 4-4-2 formation.
Winger Larsen Touré, a regular sub in recent weeks, also missed out due to a knock with U21s defender Joe Robinson, 19, on the bench for the senior side for the first time in a competitive match.
Charlton named an unchanged team including former Town loan keeper Stephen Henderson and one-time academy schoolboy Morgan Fox. Another ex-Blues academy youngster Nick Pope, a keeper who was released at 16, was amongst the subs.
The Addicks started on the front foot but hadn’t created an opportunity before the home fans staged their planned protest against the club’s owners with the vast majority holding up A4 cards bearing the legend ‘Stand up for the 2%’ for a minute after two minutes.
Ademola Lookman struck the game’s first shot from the edge of the area in the fourth minute but the ball hit a defender and deflected behind.
Town started to get more into the game and in the 11th minute they had their first shot, Henderson saving Brett Pitman’s low effort from the edge of the box.
Soon after, the Blues went even closer when Pitman crossed from the right and Daryl Murphy rose highest to nod just past the far post. As the Charlton keeper prepared to take the goalkick, Addicks skipper Johnnie Jackson was replaced by Chris Solly having picked up a knock.
The Blues had got themselves on top after making a slow start and on 16 Pitman twice almost conjured a chance with a couple of clever flicks at the near post from Jonas Knudsen’s cross from the left, but the ball was bundled behind.
From the resultant corner, Maitland-Niles’s kick reached Jonathan Douglas but his header, which looked to be on target, hit Sears, who was unable to get in a shot at goal.
Town continued to look the more dangerous side and on 18 Luke Chambers’s cross from deep on the right was deflected up in the air and reached Sears on the left, from where he hit a low volley which Henderson did well to get down to stop.
Referee Scott Duncan was the subject of Town protests in the 23rd minute when he stopped play with the Blues breaking to allow Johann Berg Gudmundsson to receive treatment after he was struck a painful blow in the groin by a Tareiq Holmes-Dennis shot.
Lookman shot wide in the 26th minute for Charlton but two minutes later the Blues went in front.
Charlton repeatedly failed to clear following a corner on the left, during which time Sears had forced Henderson into a save. Maitland-Niles returned the ball back into the area, Christophe Berra headed on to Tommy Smith, who while holding Solly off - illegally according to Charlton - nodded across goal and Murphy headed in his fifth goal in three games from close range to make it 1-0.
The lively Lookman got into a good position on the left of the area just before the half hour but Gerken came off his line sharply to block his shot.
Town, by now with Pitman playing deeper and Sears up front with Murphy in a system similar to Charlton’s diamond, weren’t too far away from a second in the 36th minute, Douglas just failing to get enough on his header from Murphy’s cross from the right.
Jordan Cousins headed Fox’s right-wing cross to Gerken a minute later but without testing the Blues keeper.
Deep in first-half injury time, Town doubled their advantage when Chambers played in Sears in space on the right of the area and the former Colchester man’s effort took a deflection before beating Henderson at his near post. It was Sears’s fifth goal of the season and his first for 10 league games.
Charlton threatened to pull a goal back in the remaining minutes of injury time through a goalmouth scramble following a corner with the danger eventually cleared via Berra and Smith headers.
Once the ball was cleared, Town broke away and Fox picked up the game’s first yellow card for pulling back Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
Soon after referee Duncan blew his whistle to end the first half with the Blues having put themselves in a good position to record their fourth successive win at The Valley.
Having started slowly, Town got on top and had created chances prior to Murphy’s goal. The second just before the break was a bonus with the Blues seemingly happy see the half out at that stage. Nevertheless, Sears fully deserved to get on the scoresheet given his excellent recent performances.
Charlton switched Fox for recently-signed former West Ham man Ricardo Vaz Te at half-time.
After Gerken had done well to claim a cross from the right under pressure, the Blues weren’t far away from making it 3-0, Murphy slamming Douglas’s lay-off on the edge of the box just past the post and off the stanchion in the 51st minute.
Two minutes later, Vaz Te, who had made an impression since coming on, hit a low strike through a crowd of players which Gerken saved down to his right.
Charlton striker Simon Makienok was booked for catching Berra with an elbow in the 64th minute, not the first time the Dane’s flailing arms had caught the Town centre-half in the face.The Scotland international lost a tooth in the incident.
Moments later Cole Skuse also took a blow to the face and suffered a nosebleed.
Chances had been rare at both ends since the break with the Blues generally happy to sit back on their lead and soak up whatever the home side were able to throw at them, which for the most part consisted of crosses which Gerken was able to claim or the Town defence clear unchallenged.
In the 68th minute the Blues made it 3-0. Pitman left a Chambers pass for Douglas, who fed Murphy in space to his left and the Irishman smashed in his second of the game and his sixth in three games off the post.
With Charlton looking a beaten side Murphy just failing to find Maitland-Niles with a cross from the left, then after Sears had won a corner, Berra heading over.
On 76 Pitman hit a 30-yard effort but too close to Henderson, who claimed. Three minutes later, Charlton went close to pulling a goal back when Reza Ghoochannejhad headed freekick back across the box and Gerken superbly blocked Patrick Bauer’s diving header.
Gerken made an even better save in the 81st minute, brilliantly getting down and across to his left to palm away Vaz Te’s goal-bound header. Three minutes later, Giles Coke replaced Maitland-Niles.
Vaz Te, by now wearing a pink bandage on his head, was thwarted by Gerken once more in the 87th minute. The striker hit a shot from the edge of the box and the Blues keeper again dived across to his left to save.
Tommy Oar took over from Sears moments before the fourth official indicated four additional minutes with the game already well won.
Holmes-Dennis headed a late opportunity wide but the Addicks had never looked like getting back into the game from the moment Murphy, who is firmly back to his best, put the Blues in front.
Sears’s second goal just before the break was a further blow to the home side and the third cemented the three points at a stage when Charlton weren’t looking like getting back into the game.
There was a late flurry of chances in the closing stages when Gerken made a succession of excellent saves, but overall it was probably the most comfortable of the Blues’ four successive wins at The Valley.
Town are now undefeated in six matches - having ended their winless run of Sky games at 11, their last live TV victory was the corresponding fixture last November - and are up to seventh ahead of this afternoon’s games, level on points with Birmingham in the final play-off place.
Charlton: Henderson, Holmes-Dennis, Bauer, Sarr, Fox (Vaz Te 46), Diarra, Cousins, Jackson (c) (Solly 13), Gudmundsson, Makienok (Ghoochannejhad 73), Lookman. Unused: Pope, Lennon, Ba, Vaz Te, Ahearne-Grant.
Town: Gerken, Chambers (c), Smith, Berra, Knudsen, Skuse, Douglas, Maitland-Niles (Coke 84), Sears (Oar 90), Murphy, Pitman. Unused: Bialkowski, Malarczyk, Parr, Robinson, Tabb. Referee: Scott Duncan (Northumberland).