please log in to view this image Charlton arrive at Deepdale for the second time this year, hoever this time it's a league match thanks to Charlton winning the play off 1-0 in May, this time they didn't need a Patrick Bauer goal. Interesting and now precictable fact it is our next to last Saturday 3pm kick off this year https://www.charltonafc.com/ MANAGER Nathan Jason Jones (born 28 May 1973) is a Welsh professional football manager who is the manager of EFL Championship club Charlton Athletic. He is also a former player who played as a left-back and a midfielder. Jones began his career with Football Conference club Merthyr Tydfil before joining Luton Town in the summer of 1995. He became homesick at Luton so took an opportunity to move to Spain with Badajoz and then Numancia and returned to England with Southend United in 1997. Jones spent three seasons at Roots Hall which included a brief loan spell with Scarborough in 1999. He moved on to Brighton & Hove Albion in 2000 and was part of the team that won three promotions in five years. He joined Yeovil Town in 2005 where he spent seven seasons in League One making over 200 appearances. Whilst at Yeovil, Jones began taking his coaching badges, spending time as first-team coach of Yeovil Town Ladies and later player-assistant manager of the first team. He left Yeovil in 2012 and joined Charlton Athletic as their under-21 professional development coach, a role which he held for one season. He returned to Brighton as a member of the coaching staff to Óscar García, Sami Hyypiä and Chris Hughton. Jones left Brighton in January 2016 to take over as manager of League Two club Luton Town. He guided Luton to the League Two play-offs in 2016–17 losing out to Blackpool, but earned promotion to League One in 2017–18 finishing in second place. With Luton on course for a second consecutive promotion, Jones left in January 2019 for Championship club Stoke City. His time at Stoke was ultimately unsuccessful, with him being dismissed in November 2019. Jones returned to Luton in May 2020, subsequently saving the club from relegation following the restart of the season after the UK's COVID-19 lockdown, and guiding them to a playoff place in the 2021–22 season. In November 2022, he left Luton for a second time and joined Premier League club Southampton, but lasted just three months in the role before he was sacked. In February 2024, Jones was appointed manager of Charlton Athletic. please log in to view this image FORM GUIDE please log in to view this image PNE 9 Charlton 11 They have started very well although it appears the Plastics surrended early at the Valley last Saturday NEWBIES AND HOT SHOTS please log in to view this image Actually spent a bit of cash this summer also buying two players from the Lashers Carey and Apter T'OTHER GAMES AND TABLE OF TRUTH please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
Team News please log in to view this image Paul Heckingbottom should have the same set of players available to him as he had on Tuesday night, with the addition of Andrew Hughes who has served his one-match suspension. Brad Potts has suffered a setback in his recovery from injury. The midfielder was making positive progress and returned to full training last week, however his comeback will now be delayed. Jordan Thompson is starting to do more work on the ball, although the Northern Ireland international is still a way off making his PNE debut. Robbie Brady and Will Keane also remain sidelined. The Visitors please log in to view this image Since their Play-Off success last season which saw a return to the Championship for the first time since 2020, Charlton Athletic have acclimatised well to life back in the second tier. The Addicks have taken 12 points from their opening eight fixtures and have claimed wins against Watford, Sheffield United and Blackburn Rovers. To help them make the step up, Nathan Jones’ side were busy in the summer transfer window, adding a number of players with experience at this level, including Amari’i Bell, Thomas Kaminski and James Bree. Match Officials please log in to view this image Referee: James Linington Assistant Referees: James Wilson and Conor Brown Fourth Official: Scott Oldham James Linington will take charge of Saturday’s fixture. Linington last officiated a North End match on the final day of the 2024/25 Sky Bet Championship season, when a draw with Bristol City secured safety. So far this campaign, Linington has refereed two matches and shown eight yellow cards. THE BOSS Paul Heckingbottom discussed the tight margins of the Championship and the need for his North End team to fight for every little advantage they can find. It was a relatively unique midweek in the second tier, with eight of the 12 fixtures played ending in draws – showing how little there is between teams at this early stage of the season. North End themselves have started the campaign well, taking 13 points from the opening eight matches, but the manager is conscious of having to take advantage of opportunities when they have them. Hecky Talks Championship Margins And Charlton AthleticPaul Heckingbottom spoke about the tight margins of the Championship and previewed the visit of Charlton Athletic. Talking about those tight margins, Hecky said: “I say it all the time, but this week shows it more than ever. But again, that's what adds to my frustration. You don't have to be unbeaten for a certain amount of time, but you have to pick up wins. As soon as any team does that, they're going to fly up the league. “I think all it does, the more games you play, it shows how the league’s shaping up in terms of opposition and where you rank in there. “All that the extra fixtures do is reiterate what I've always said about how fine the margins are and then that just stresses again the importance of getting every little detail right and keep fighting for every little bit.” North End will bring this latest block of fixtures to a close this weekend when Charlton Athletic come to Deepdale in the final match prior to the international break. The Addicks, fresh from promotion last season, have made a positive start to life back in the Championship, and will be looking to continue that in Lancashire. Asked about their start to the season, Hecky responded: “Very strong. There’s lots of similarities to us in certain ways. We know all about them because they’ve not changed too much in terms of style from when we played them in the cup last year and we know it was a real tough game but then they've been able to add to that. “They've obviously gone on a really good, strong run after that and got themselves promoted and then been able to add to their squad. They’ve spent quite a bit of money on some good additions to their squad as well but additions who fit into what they're all about as a team. “They've improved again from last season so no surprises that I'm seeing them performing how they are.”
