NATHAN Jones has vowed to make it a tough afternoon for League One leaders Portsmouth when the sides meet at The Valley on Saturday.
Jones and Pompey counterpart John Mourinho have very different aims for the remainder of the season. Jones is trying to keep the Addicks in the division, while Mousinho’s side are six points clear in his first full season in charge, though the teams below them have games in hand.
Portsmouth have won five of their last six league games and ten since Charlton last won, as the latter are fifteen games without a victory and only one point above the relegation zone.
But Jones was bullish going into the fixture.
“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 said.
“They’re a really good, well-coached side that has got good players. We’re really looking forward to the challenge in front of our fans. We want to be as aggressive and front-footed as we possibly can and then see if we can keep improving.
“John Mousinho’s come in and done really well. 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.”
Jones gave updates on Tyreeq Bakinson, Panutche Camará and Kayne Ramsay.
He said: “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. Then Panutche picked up a knock in training on Thursday. He travelled with us and played some part in the game but it was probably a risk to start him.
“They’re in a better position than they were a week ago, as is everyone. Everyone is gathering that bit of momentum that we are demanding from them in different ways, that takes some time as well.”
Jones added: “Kayne is still a little bit longer. He has a hamstring tendon issue, which again can be any timescale on it. It’s going to keep him out for the foreseeable future in terms of our next three to four games.”
