Alan Pardew thanked the Saints fans for helping him come through a difficult return to Charlton.

The Saints boss was the centre of attention on his return to The Valley and, as expected, came in for a wealth of abuse from his former supporters.

But a large travelling away support from St Mary’s showed their backing for Pardew as Saints manager and roared the side on to collect a healthy point in a 1-1 draw against a team who had won all six of their League One fixtures going into the game.

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Pardew said: “The fans were brilliant and I really thank them for the support they gave me in particular because without a win they didn’t need to.

“It really buoyed me and it was nice to see at the end they were pleased with our performance.”

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