Jordan Cousins increased his stock with the winner against Nottingham Forest but insisted speculation over a “dream” move to Arsenal will not distract him from Charlton’s relegation battle.

Arsene Wenger has been sending scouts to watch the versatile 20-year-old and Cousins last night impressed with his performance at the City Ground, where his 81st-minute strike helped keep Charlton clear of the bottom three.

Cousins signed a new contract in October and despite revealing that he is a Gunners fan, is in no rush to fulfil his long-term ambition of playing in the Premier League.

“I do support Arsenal,” Cousins told Standard Sport. “Obviously the Premier League is my long-term dream but the short-term is about keeping Charlton in the Championship. I’ve got two more years on my contract and I’m focused on that.

“Charlton give you a chance to express yourself and play in the first team and that’s what I want to do.”

The victory over play-off hopefuls Forest was Charlton’s first League win on the road since early November. It was also the fourth clean sheet in five games under new manager Jose Riga.

A shortage of goals — just two in seven games — is the major downfall but Cousins believes Charlton’s resilience will help them steer clear of danger.

“Everybody’s solid at the back, in midfield and up front — everybody’s defending together,” said Cousins. “Ben Hamer’s a very good keeper for us and you can see that he’s a key player. We’ve got Derby and Leeds coming up but everyone’s raring to go and I think we’ll do alright.

“It’s not a good feeling to be in the bottom three — even if we’ve got games in hand. What we’ve got to do is come to places like Forest and pick up points. Obviously one point is okay but really we need to be picking up three.”

Riga has been trying to address his side’s problems up front and on Monday recalled forward Joe Pigott from his loan spell with Gillingham.

The Belgian revealed that he had further plans to bolster his strikeforce but has struggled to attract new faces to the struggling club. “Believe me, I had some plans but in our position it is very difficult to be able to attract players,” said Riga after the 1-0 victory.

“There are not a lot of players available. We cannot always focus on bringing in new players so we must try to do it without.

“The clean sheets give the players confidence. We have to be smart and know what our qualities are.”

Meanwhile, Standard Sport understands that former Charlton manager Chris Powell spent the weekend coaching the England Under-18s at St George’s Park.

Rudy Gestede’s injury-time header denied Watford a seventh straight win at Vicarage Road last night.

The Blackburn striker made it 3-3 after substitute Cristian Battocchio looked to have secured the points for the home side.

Watford head coach Beppe Sannino said: “I’m very disappointed but in English football you have to pay attention to the last, last minute of the game.”