A disappointed Nathan Jones said he was “gutted” after seeing his side fall to a 2–1 defeat against Portsmouth at Fratton Park in the Sky Bet Championship.
Harvey Knibbs appeared to have rescued a point for the Addicks in the sixth minute of stoppage time, a result Charlton felt was the minimum they deserved, but a dramatic late winner from Min-Hyeok Yang ensured Jones’ side returned home empty-handed.
Speaking after the match, Jones said: “I think it would have been a travesty if we’d only drawn the game, but to lose it in the manner we did makes me feel sick to my stomach. For large spells I thought we were excellent.
“We caused real problems, silenced the crowd and looked a real threat. With a little more quality in the final third we would have gone in ahead at half-time. In the second half we created some wonderful opportunities. Their goalkeeper has pulled off an unbelievable save from Conor [Coventry] or Burkey [Reece Burke], I’m not sure which, and we had other chances as well.
“Then we concede from a really poor corner. We very rarely give goals away like that, but we did. We kept pushing and eventually got what we felt was the minimum we deserved, and then to switch off like we did at the end is crazy, absolutely crazy.
“I’m gutted, because they should never score from there. We have to defend it better, win second balls, and to lose like that is sickening.”
Jones made five changes to the Charlton starting line-up, including handing Joe Rankin-Costello his first league start for the club. The Addicks boss described Rankin-Costello’s performance as “outstanding” and also expressed his satisfaction at seeing Reece Burke, Amari’i Bell and Charlie Kelman complete the majority of the match following their recent returns from injury.
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