Charlton Athletic boss reveals hopes for 'strong Sheffield Wednesday' - makes fan point
Sheffield Wednesday earned a 1-1 home draw with Charlton Athletic on Saturday, with Addicks boss Nathan Jones left frustrated by the result.
A care-free Sheffield Wednesday approach made things more difficult for Charlton Athletic as the Addicks were held to a 1-1 draw by the relegated Owls, according to Natahn Jones.
The Charlton boss was a picture of frustration in his post-match press conference and rued his team’s inability to grab hold of the game as Wednesday dominated 67 per cent of the possession. Gabriel Otegbayo scored his second Owls goal to secure a point for the home side, with Charlton taking a point that should see them clear of the relegation scrap heading into the final three rounds.
“It’s two points dropped,” Jones said. “These are a difficult side to play against at the moment. They’ve got a goalkeeper playing as another centre-half, they’ve got central midfield players playing right-wing, they cause problems and it can be difficult to get to grips with. But we had the important chances in the game and it took an error from our point of view for them to get back in.
“Although they had the possession, I felt we were the more threatening. We just needed that second goal and if we’d got that, we’d had won the game.
“They play freely, without any jeopardy. With the greatest respect, the result doesn’t matter apart from pride. We’re slightly different, we can’t be as gung-ho and as free. It’s very difficult dealing with that but I thought we coped with that well, we got to grips with it in the second half, we hit the bar, the post, we took the lead. We had better chances, but we weren’t able to get that second goal.”
Jones spoke with great humility as to Wednesday’s plight when the Owls made the trip to The Valley back in October and once again made clear his hope that the club is able to recover, making reference to the support they have received from the fanbase in a brutal campaign.
“It’s a fantastic football club, a wonderful football club, it really is,” Jones told The Star. “I do hope that they do get back with a takeover. It’s a traditional football club, a really big football club, the fans have been magnificent for them and have stuck through it and they’re coming through a really tough time.
“The manager has been magnificent. Managing a football club is extremely difficult anyway, but he has done a sterling job in terms of everything and I just hope they do come back. Look, I’m more concerned about my football club and where we go, but I really do hope we see a strong Sheffield Wednesday again in the future.”