Charlton Athletic boss addresses squad absence of summer signing Gassan Ahadme

Nathan Jones says that Gassan Ahadme was not selected as part of the matchday squad at Crawley Town due to illness.

The Addicks paid a transfer fee for the Ipswich Town striker in the summer but he has not featured in a League One match since the 2-1 win over Wycombe at the end of December, coming on in the 81st minute.

Ahadme’s only action in 2025 came in the FA Cup loss to Preston North End. He started before being replaced in the 56th minute.

The 25-year-old has scored four times in 21 appearances in all competitions.

Ahadme has not been involved in the last 13 league games.

“We have got really good competition at the minute,” Jones told the South London Press. “Gassan has been unfortunate with injuries this year, that is the big thing that has curtailed him.

“The reason he didn’t feature on Tuesday is because he has been ill. The type of illness he had it took a lot from his body, so to put him back on the bench on Tuesday was probably a day or two too early. So that is the reason he wasn’t involved.

“There is a lot of stuff that revolves around it. The players we have now we really, really want. We have gone through a window where we could’ve moved people on and we had a lot of interest in our players. The players we kept we believe we can now take forward and achieve something this season.

“Gassan is a big, big part of that. He is a totally different striker to what we have got. At times, we pick benches for what we need. But, on Tuesday, the big thing why Gassan was not involved is he has been ill. He hadn’t been able to get the fluids in and had only trained for one day. If I’d needed him to come on after 20 minutes, then I would have put him at risk of injury.

“Gassan is back involved for the weekend, he has three or four more training sessions and a lot more fuel on board. He is in a better place.”

PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD