Nathan Jones feels Charlton have made ‘good progress’ during his first year as the club’s Manager.
The Addicks were sat 19th in Sky Bet League One when Jones was appointed in February 2024 and are now outside of the play-off places on goal difference having hit form across December and January.
Reflecting on his first year in the hotseat, the gaffer said: "I’d like to thank everyone that’s backed me and made me feel very welcome, and that’s right throughout the football club, the fans, everything. Are we where we want to be yet? No. Are we making good progress? Definitely.
"In a year’s time if we have made the same amount of progress that we’ve made in this year then we’re going to be in a wonderful place,” he added. "That’s what we have to do and we’ve said that. We want to build a really good, sustainable football club that is in a great place for years and years to come. We’ve got owners that want to do that and we’ve got people now right throughout.
"We’ve got a load of young players that we can work with and we’ve got a really good squad. Yes, we will try and improve that every single window, whether that’s one player, two players, five players, whatever that is we’ll try and do that. I feel the club’s in a wonderful place, so to evaluate everything I think we’re making good progress."
The Addicks bolstered Jones' squad with the loan signings of attacking midfielder Alex Gilbert and versatile defender Tom McIntyre on deadline day.
"Alex adds real quality in the final third and we’re really delighted to have him," explained Jones. "He provides real competition for us. In terms of Tom, he brings experience, even though he’s only a relatively young man, balance and technical quality. We feel we’ve done good business with the people that we’ve brought in.
"They’re both in contention for the weekend and everyone else is fully fit."
The Addicks host a Stevenage side that have won their last three league outings and boast the division’s joint-best defensive record in terms of clean sheets.
"Any time you play Stevenage it’s a tough game,” he said. “All I’m concerned about is us being the best versions of ourselves.
"Against Blackpool the other day, we weren’t quite the best versions of ourselves and at times we were, but if we had finished the game as the best versions of ourselves then we would have won the game."
Click here to purchase your tickets for Saturday's clash now!
