Steve Morison has saluted the United fans and thanked them for their support this year after the striker scored his first goal of the season in Saturday’s narrow loss to Charlton.

Morison opened the scoring after 40 minutes at The Valley, connecting perfectly with Luke Murphy’s floated corner to send an emphatic volley flying into the top corner and give his side the lead.

But Charlton hit back twice through Tony Watt and Yoni Buyons to claim all three points in a disappointing second-half showing.

United were backed in South East London by just over 3,000 travelling supporters, who savoured Morison’s long-awaited strike almost as much as he did.

“It’s amazing that they’re actually still turning up with the ups and downs," he said.

“That’s what makes this club fantastic – the people who support it.

“They’ve been going up and down the country all year, turning out in their numbers. It’s fantastic.

“It’s nice to turn up and see so many of them.

“I was just pleased I managed to score a goal, I think they were as happy as I was.

“It’s just a shame we couldn’t manage to get the result.

“It’s been a long time coming this season. It was just nice to get a goal.”

However, Morison admitted his disappointment at the final outcome on Saturday afternoon and was left bemused at how his side were left empty-handed once again.

“We’re really frustrated, we shouldn’t have lost that game,” he said.

“We just didn’t get going in the second half. We seemed to be camped in our own half and doing sloppy things.

“We weren’t doing it right. It’s just frustrating after such a positive first half.

“We missed a penalty, scored a good goal and we could have been 2-0 up at half-time.

“They broke away and scored and then, for the penalty, Stuart Taylor is gutted because he made a good save and then gave the penalty away.

“It’s just frustrating. It’s up and down. It’s just where we are at the minute.

Morison has seen encouraging signs this season, though, and is hopeful that the club’s fortunes can change in time for the new campaign.

“You’ve got to build on it,” he said. “This is the Championship, it’s not the Premier League. It’s pretty simple.

“You play percentages, you run around, you put your body on the line and you win football matches.

“If you’ve not got enough people willing to do that, you’re not going to win matches.

“Sometimes you don’t need to be the best team in the world, you just need some team spirit and some heart.”