Nathan Jones wants his Charlton side to be on the front foot when Portsmouth comes to The Valley this Saturday.
Pompey, who will be supported by a sell-out away crowd in SE7, have lost two Sky Bet League One games on the road this season and are presently top of the table, six points ahead of Derby County, who have a game in hand.
“Portsmouth travel well and have an excellent fanbase, similar to Charlton who have had tough times in recent years but the fanbase has always been excellent in terms of how they have gone about stuff,” Jones went on to say.
“They are a really good, well-coached team with good players. We’re definitely excited about the task in front of our fans. We want to be as proactive and forward-thinking as possible, and then see whether we can keep improving.
“John Mousinho’s come in and done really well,” he went on to say. “It’s going to be a really tough League One game – we know that – but it’s also going to be very tough for Portsmouth.”
Tyreeq Bakinson was absent from the Addicks’ roster last weekend, while Panutche Camará made an 18-minute appearance off the bench.
“Tyreeq was ill and so we cleared him out of the place as, regardless if he recovered quickly or not, he could contaminate others so we took precautions with that,” the manager said. “Then Panutche took a hit in training on Thursday. He travelled with us and played some of the game, but starting him was probably a risk.
“They’re in a better position than they were a week ago, as is everyone,” he said. “Everyone is gathering that bit of momentum that we are demanding from them in different ways, that takes some time as well.”
Jones also provided an update on Kayne Ramsay’s fitness after he was taken off late in his entire Charlton debut against Lincoln City.
“Kayne is still a little bit longer,” explained the gaffer. “He has a hamstring tendon issue, which can take any length of time. It will hold him out for the foreseeable future, including our next three to four games.
Leave a Reply