SWINDON Town manager John Sheridan was delighted his team was able to “stop the rot” after preventing a fifth consecutive loss with a 2-2 draw against Charlton Athletic on Saturday.

Following encouraging performances against Gillingham, Fleetwood, and Doncaster Rovers that ultimately saw Swindon come away empty handed, Town were finally able to claim a reward for their efforts as Brett Pitman came off the bench to rescue a point at the County Ground.

Swindon took the lead against Lee Bowyer’s men after sharp passing from Matt Smith and Dion Conroy paved the way for Diallang Jaiyesimi to blast home midway through the first half.

Though Omar Bogle took advantage of a mistake from Zeki Fryers to level the scores, and Chuks Aneke put Charlton in front, Town carried on battling until the end.

And they were duly rewarded when Matt Smith’s corner was headed in off the underside of the bar by Pitman.

Manager Sheridan was once again happy with his team’s showing and called the point “a big plus”.

“I probably would have said the same thing as if we’d have lost the game 2-1,” said Sheridan.

“We were pushing and pushing in the second half to get the equaliser, so I’m so happy to stop this run of four games where I truly believe that we shouldn’t be saying we’ve lost four games on the spin.

“It’s not a nice thing for the manager to say because the players and I know what the performances have been like that we’ve given in those games.

“To come away with a point against Charlton is a big plus for us because it stops the rot, and we’ve proved once again that we can compete against a really good team.”

Swindon’s next game could hardly be any tougher either, as a trip to the league leaders awaits Sheridan’s men following their hard-earned point at home to Charlton.

But the Town boss says his side will go to Fratton Park in high spirits after a solid performance was finally met with reward.

He said: “We’ve got to make sure we keep the level of performance up because that level that we’re showing at the moment will win you games in this league.

“You couldn’t ask for a tougher game on Boxing Day – away to Portsmouth – but we’ll go there confident and knowing that we’re playing well. But again, it’s points we need. We’ve got a point against Charlton, so we’ll take that, but we’ve got to believe we can do it again.”