Nathan Jones was delighted to see his side claim a “wonderful point on the road” as the Addicks continued their unbeaten start to the Sky Bet Championship season with a 1-1 draw at West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday evening.
Tyreece Campbell’s 69th-minute strike cancelled out Callum Styles’ goal nine minutes earlier to ensure Charlton would come away with the first of two away trips in three days with a hard-fought draw.
Speaking to CharltonTV, Jones said: “First and foremost, it’s an excellent point. You come away from home and they are a good side who have had some excellent results - they’ve beaten Burnley and Norwich and only lost to Middlesbrough, which is no bad thing.
“They are an excellent side and really difficult to play against. We had to contain them in the first half because we didn’t play well enough and gave the ball away too much - then they scores because we didn’t start the second half with any zest.
“But once we made those changes, I thought we were excellent. We finished the game stronger, we scored a goal and we were pushing them.
“It’s a wonderful point on the road. Will we play better? Yes. But 10 points from the first four - will we take that? Absolutely. I’m more than happy with that.”
Despite going a goal behind, Jones praised his side’s character for coming back into the game in quick fashion, with a trio of subs on the hour-mark proving to make a big difference.
Ivan Mesík, Timothy Ouma and Joe Rankin-Costello all entered the fray after the hosts had taken the lead, with Mesík and Rankin-Costello combining well down the left to lead to the Addicks bagging their leveller through Campbell.
“Our character is never in question,” explained Jones.
“We’ve shown that throughout my time here. In times of adversity, right from the start, we’ve instilled character in this group. In 2024, we went 14 unbeaten, then got promoted the year after. We had to go through some really tough times, so this team and this football club has bags of character. So I know that’s never a problem, and then I have to make tactical decisions and if I can do my job, this team responds.
“We haven’t achieved anything yet, but it’s a really solid start and it’s important with two away games this week that we’ve got something out of the first one, because you don’t want to be chasing your tail going into the weekend.
On his goalscorer, Jones was full or praise, once again, for Campbell, who has now found the net four times in his first five games this term.
“He’s settled,” said Jones.
“We had a good chat over the summer - last year I felt he needed more outcomes - that’s all he needed, because he gets into positions and he’s a threat. Today was slightly different because, up until he was coming into the game, we were going to change him and we kept him on because we just felt he would create something out of nothing.
“As it was, it was a really well-worked goal and I was really pleased with it, and we changed from a four into a three and that’s what got us back into the game.”
Meanwhile, the Addicks’ boss reflected positively on the summer transfer window, which slammed shut on Tuesday evening with Oliver Skipp becoming the 11th and final addition for the 2026/27.
“I’m really delighted,” he said.
“It was a wonderful window. We knew we had to work so hard this window because, to add quality to this side, it was going to take time. We were in for a lot of the same players as other sides who have greater financial resources.
“We had to sell a product to players and be patient to pick the right ones and we did. We probably would have liked one more in that wide-right position, but we managed to bring young Junior [Nkeng] in, which is a work in progress, but that’s probably the only thing that we didn’t bring in to make this a perfect window. We’ve strengthened in every area and I thank the board and the owners for that because that’s all you can ask going in and coming out of a window.”
Charlton now march on to Stoke City on Saturday for another trip on the road as the busy schedule continues for Jones’ men.
“We’ll have to rest them up and make sure they recover well,” Jones explained.
“We’ve got two away fixtures on the bounce - we’ve got a day less to prepare and recover and that’s something that I don’t really like and I don’t think it’s fair and it’s something I think should be looked at.
“But we’ll rest them up and keep them together. They’re a great group around each other and confidence should be decent because 10 points from four games is a wonderful return.”
The Addicks are back at The Valley on Wednesday, September 9th when Charlton take on Queens Park Rangers under the lights. Click here to purchase your tickets now.
