IAN GREAVES’ faith was rewarded as a 4-0 home romp against Charlton Athletic provided the perfect pick-me-up following a major flop at Aston Villa.

Huddersfield Town had crashed 4-1 to the Second Division’s basement side under floodlights in Birmingham, where 24,552 saw Tommy Docherty’s team finally come good.

But boss Greaves refused to press the panic button, naming the same XI for the visit of the Londoners, which drew a 10,414 crowd to Leeds Road.

Jimmy McGill, Frank Worthington, Jimmy Lawson and Roy Ellam scored as Town enjoyed their best win of the season to date.

Keeper Terry Poole, Dennis Clarke, Geoff Hutt, Jimmy Nicholson, Trevor Cherry, Bobby Hoy and Colin Dobson were the others on duty.

Greaves gave a first bench call-up to David Smith, the teenage striker from Sheffield who had chosen football ahead of a teaching career.

But the 18-year-old wasn’t required as Town tore into the Addicks from the outset, with further good news provided by defeats for table-top rivals Sheffield United, QPR, Blackburn and Leicester.

That meant the ground lost in midweek was quickly made up, with Greaves’s men third, just a point behind the Blades and Rangers.

“It was great to see those goals go in. We needed to get the Villa match out of our systems as soon as possible,” said Greaves.

The first arrived on 28 minutes when McGill, pictured, lashed home a 20 yarder after Worthington’s initial effort from Hoy’s cross had been blocked.

The lead was doubled five minutes later, when Worthington pounced from close range after a Hoy rocket was parried by keeper Tony Burns.

Town were well in control, and notched number three after 58 minutes.

Dobson reached the byline and pulled the ball back perfectly into the path of Lawson, who shot low and true into the bottom left-hand corner.

Then, on 62 minutes, Town’s two centre-backs combined when Hoy swung in a corner, with Ellam meeting Cherry’s flicked header to nod home.

What a contrast to the clash at Villa, who slumped 4-0 at Cardiff as Town cashed in against Charlton.

Lawson got the consolation goal against the second city side, who had been comfortably beaten 2-0 at Leeds Road earlier in the season and who had won only once and scored just eight goals going into the clash with Town.

“We were handed a lesson in football basics, and we must learn from it,” said Greaves, whose side had been beaten three times in the league, the other defeats being at home to Blackburn and away to QPR.

“We let Villa hustle us off the park. If there was a 50:50 ball, they won it, and that’s not like us.

“But it’s one isolated poor performance, and we should remember that.”