By Paul Green at The Valley
NATHAN Jones admitted goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski should have done a lot better to prevent Portsmouth gaining the lead in Tuesday’s vital Championship relegation encounter at The Valley.
The Addicks remain seven points above the drop zone after a 3-1 defeat to their fellow strugglers, who moved to one place and three points behind them in nineteenth.
The hosts squandered a glorious opportunity after just 36 seconds when Harry Clarke fired straight at Nicolas Schmid.
Pompey made them pay midway through the first half as Kaminski made a complete hash of Terry Devlin’s 30-yard drive, which went straight through his hands.
A hotly-disputed penalty awarded after Amari’i Bell was adjudged to have handled Gustavo Caballero’s delivery was converted on 35 minutes by Colby Bishop.
Things went from bad to worse ten minutes into the second period as Devlin grabbed his second of the evening with another long-range strike.
And although substitute Jayden Fevrier pulled one back on his debut on 64 minutes, it proved a mere consolation with the boss far from impressed with what he had witnessed.
Jones said: “We were poor tonight. We had a glorious opportunity in the first minute which would have really set the tone for the night.
“We missed that and then we got dominated physically between both boxes. I can moan about the goals because [the first], it has gone straight through our keeper and shouldn’t go in.
“The second was a penalty which touched his chest first and then is [given] handball and then they scored another one from distance.
“We have chances for me from five yards, TC (Tyreece Campbell) has another chance so we probably had better chances on the night.
“But in between both boxes we got dominated physically and that’s not like us. I have no idea why. It wasn’t that we didn’t prepare, we did in training.
“They played on Saturday so we should have been fresh. Physically we shouldn’t have had a problem but they dominated us today.”
On Kaminski’s mistake, Jones said: “It’s poor – I expect him to save that.”
Jones became involved in a heated debate at the end of the game with a home supporter but the manager claimed it was a storm in a teacup and instantly forgotten.
He said: “It was just a disagreement with a fan. He wants to vent, he has paid his money so can do exactly what he wants.
“I disagreed with what he said but that is fine.”
Defeat ended Charlton’s three-game unbeaten run, something Jones was left to lament.
“It is the worst thing about it,” the Valley chief said.
“Obviously in the Championship you can’t take it for granted. We are new to the Championship so we are learning lessons all the time and tonight was a lesson.
“It came in the worst type of game, really.”
The manager also remained tight-lipped on speculation linking the Addicks with 35-year-old former West Ham United striker and free agent Michail Antonio.
Jones added: “There is nothing to say on that yet. The wheels are still in motion but that is where we are.”
