By James Barrett

Carshalton Athletic midfielder Luke Pigden does not mind if everyone outside the club has written them off as relegation certainties.

The Robins went to second-placed Lowestoft Town on Saturday and pulled off a surprise 3-2 victory to register their third straight win and boost their survival chances, particularly as teams above them are not winning games in hand.

Pigden, who scored Carshalton's second goal in Suffolk, said: "Not many would have given us a chance in this fixture but we players and the management staff believed we could win.

"There has been a good vibe within the squad recently and the belief is there that we can stay up."

It was a battling display by the Robins that yielded the points as Town threw everything forward had as the clock ticked down.

"Never in my 116 games here have I endured a last 20 minutes like that. They had five men up front at times, but we put our bodies on the line," he added.

"We might have crumbled under that pressure a few weeks ago, but we displayed our renewed spirit to keep hold of three valuable points."

The start of the game was just as enthralling as two goals came in under two minutes of play - the first for the home side.

Pigden said: "We planned to keep ourselves in the game for as long as possible, so it wasn't the start we intended.

"But, in a perverse way, we still had 90 minutes to settle and go at them. It was pleasing to see us level through our first real attack."

Pigden's goal, sandwiched between James Ashton's equaliser and an own goal by Town keeper Andrew Plummer, came from a 20-yard free kick.

However, the midfielder revealed his assistant manager would have been concerned to see him step up.

Your Local Guardian: James Ashton

Goalscorer: James Ashton levelled for Carshalton at Lowestoft

"I always hit one in the warm up but, this time, it was a poor effort so Luke (Evans) said I shouldn't consider taking any," Pigden said.

"But it was in an ideal position for me and, although it took a small nick on the way through, it was always going in."

Carshalton travel to fellow relegation candidates Hastings United on Thursday in a game that both clubs will earmark as the proverbial 'must-win'.

"We've got three games to go and we will strive to win them all, that is all we can do," added Pigden.

"Our last four games this season include playing Lowestoft and Wealdstone, both of whom are flying high, so three wins may have been considered a good return.

"But, off the back of this win, there is no reason why we couldn’t get a full-house."