Dowie hails hard-working Spireites

Charlton manager Iain Dowie paid tribute to Chesterfield after his side scraped into the Carling Cup quarter-finals courtesy of a 4-3 penalty shoot-out victory.

Roy McFarland’s League One side, who dumped out Wolves, Manchester City and West Ham in the three previous rounds, pushed Dowie’s me all the way in an absorbing encounter which finished 3-3 after extra-time.

But Scott Carson, Charlton’s on-loan Liverpool goalkeeper, emerged the hero with two saves in the penalty shoot-out to end Chesterfield’s fairytale run in the competition.

Dowie said: “I’ve been here a few times as a manager and you’ve got to pay a huge amount of respect to Chesterfield.

“They were magnificent from number one to 11 tonight and pushed us every inch of the way.

“Chesterfield deserved their moment in the spotlight because they were terrific and that’s why it went to extra-time.

“At the same time, I’ve got to pay tribute to our tremendous character. We were under pressure but we didn’t buckle.

“We switched off at the end of extra-time when they scored from another set-piece (through Wayne Allison) but we came back with lots of character and there were lots of positives for us.”

After an inauspicious start to the season, Charlton are enjoying a change of fortune.

They are now unbeaten in five matches and showed character against a side languishing in 18th in League One.

Chesterfield twice led in normal time through goals from Colin Larkin and Caleb Folan, which sandwiched Jimmy Hasselbaink’s 40th-minute equaliser and put them on course for another stunning success.

However, second-half substitute Darren Bent claimed a 73rd-minute leveller for Charlton before Hasselbaink netted again in the 93rd minute.

But the drama continued when 38-year-old substitute Wayne Allison headed home an 120th-minute equaliser to tie the scores level at 3-3 in an incredible finale.

That ensured a penalty shoot-out in which saw Charlton emerged victorious as Carson denied Derek Niven and Mark Allott to see Charlton home.

Dowie added: “That’s three wins and two draws for us now and it’s not a bad run.

“Yes, if you look at the Premiership table then you realise we need points, but tonight was a cup competition.

“We wanted to get to the last eight and we’ve done that.”

Chesterfield boss Roy McFarland paid a rich tribute to his players after they had come within a whisker of reaching the quarter-finals.

The former England defender said: “I’m really proud of my team because we came so close.

“That’s three Premiership teams now who have not been able to beat us in normal time and Charlton couldn’t even beat us on penalties.

“Derek Niven’s penalty miss was one we couldn’t really afford to miss in the shoot-out but I’ve nothing but praise for the lads.”