Charlton Athletic 2 Leeds United 4: McCormack the hero as United end their away drought in style

McCormack saw his opening two goals cancelled out by a stunning strike from Cameron Stewart and then Charlton captain Johnnie Jackson 20 minutes from time.

However, a brilliant volley from a tight angle and then a super free-kick in stoppage time handed Leeds a first win on the road since mid-September.

“We’ve been trying to find the best position for Ross because if you give him chances he will score,” said McDermott.

“I’m delighted for him because when they pulled it back to 2-2 it could have gone either way.

“Is he good enough for the Premier League? Absolutely. But we won’t worry about that yet – hopefully he can keep doing that for us. It was a good three points for us because we’ve now got back-to-back wins and go into the break on a high.”

After torrential rain in south-east London, the start was delayed for half-an-hour after a late pitch inspection but conditions remained tricky for both sides.

McCormack took advantage of a great flick-on from Dexter Blackstock to put Leeds ahead before Stewart’s brilliant volleyed equaliser.

Callum Harriot’s tug on Danny Pugh just after half-time gave McCormack the chance to hammer home his second from the spot before Jackson sidefooted home Simon Church’s cross to equalise.

But the stage was left for McCormack to seal the points to leave Charlton manager Chris Powell frustrated.

“It was a strange game because for 70 minutes we were well in there,” he said.

“But McCormack showed his quality. Conditions play a part but you have to be very diligent when you are defending in your own box.

“We showed some character to come back but McCormack was the major difference in the end.

“It’s disappointing to be on the end of a result like that after the run of clean sheets we’ve had. We’ll have to dust ourselves down.”

For McDermott, the result was particularly satisfying as he saw his side get their promotion push back on track after a run of six successive away defeats.

“I’m trying to build something here and I keep talking about but you have to have the right mentality to win away,” he said. “In most of the games we’ve been a bit naive but we weren’t today. The most important thing is that the younger players are learning and getting that winning mentality.”

Charlton Athletic: Hamer, Wilson (Pritchard 86), Morrison, Dervite, Wiggins, Harriott (Kermorgant 67), Cousins, Stephens, Stewart (Sordell 86), Jackson, Church. Unused substitutes: Hughes, Evina, Alnwick, Lennon.

Leeds United: Kenny, Peltier, Lees, Wootton (Zaliukas 46), Pearce, Pugh, Murphy, Austin, Brown, McCormack, Blackstock (Smith 76). Unused substitutes: Green, Tonge, Thompson, Poleon, Cairns.

Referee: K Stroud (Hampshire).

Man of the match: Ross McCormack.