Nathan Jones believes that Charlton face “a wonderful challenge” away at Championship leaders, Middlesbrough.
Jones’ Addicks head to the Riverside Stadium on Saturday 31 October at 3pm GMT sat 19th in the table, whilst Middlesbrough are top after Swansea and West Ham both suffered surprise defeats last weekend following their 5-1 win at Bolton.
“They’re top of the league and they’re playing with confidence and fluency, so of course it’s going to be a very difficult game,” commented Jones to cafc.co.uk in his pre-match preview as he spoke of the need for his players to relish a tough test.
“But it’s a wonderful challenge and one that we’ll be ready for.”
Charlton are currently on a nine-match winless run
“We’ll see if it becomes a catalyst for us,” continued Jones as he addressed the need for the difficulty of the test to motivate his players.
“Sometimes a game of this magnitude removes any doubt about how difficult the challenge is and provides all the motivation you need.
“All I can do is prepare our team to be the best version of ourselves and then the outcome will be the outcome.”
Charlton threw away an early lead in their eventual 3-1 loss at home to Norwich last weekend and Jones iterated that his team has been focused on the basics in training, as he refused any suggestions that his squad lack characterisation.
“This group has never lacked character,” quipped Jones as he defended his squad’s personality but iterated that the focus is on basic intelligence, control and management.
“It’s about a little bit of know-how, a little bit of control and game management at key moments.
“When you’re going through a tougher spell, you have to reset and make sure you’re doing the basics properly. That’s been the message this week.”
Jones also noted that the Championship is a tough league that is always evolving and makes games much tougher on a regular basis.
“Everything in the Championship moves forward,” reflected Jones as he admitted that the second tier keeps thriving forward, making this a difficult game against an in-form team.
“It doesn’t go backwards. People don’t spend less money and people don’t get coached any less.
“Right now it’s the hardest game in the Championship because they’re top of the league and they’re playing very well.”
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