Curtis Fleming backs Lloyd Jones to bounce back from error at Blackpool – and explains why the centre-half didn’t start
Interim boss Curtis Fleming has backed Charlton defender Lloyd Jones to bounce back from his error at Bloomfield Road.
The centre-half lost possession on the edge of the Addicks box early in the second-half, allowing Karamoko Dembele to fire beyond Ashley Maynard-Brewer to open the scoring.
Jones, 28, had been left out of the starting eleven by Fleming but was brought on at the interval of the 1-1 draw with Macauley Gillesphey feeling his hamstring.
Fleming said: “I said to him in there: ‘There’s only us and him that can lift his confidence. This is the life of a professional footballer. You make a mistake in front of 10,000 people, how do you come back from it?’
“I didn’t start him in the game because at the moment he needs a little bit of a reset. The last couple of games he’s looked a little bit edgy. But with Macca going down, I said: ‘Are you ready?’
“He showed good bottle to come on and say: ‘Yes, Flem, I’m ready to go.’ He came in and he made a mistake. But I said to him that near the end he won five headers. So, stop thinking about the negative. How are you going to bounce back? He said: ‘It’s not good enough’ but I said: ‘You’ve showed us that you’re with us. You didn’t sink.’
“He didn’t throw his hand up and say: ‘I’ve pulled my hamstring.’ He’s a professional footballer. A young man. A human being at the end of it. He’s someone that we have to keep building because no doubt he’s got quality. So, we all have to work on building him back up to believing how good he is.”
PHOTO: KYLE ANDREWS
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