Charlton Athletic boss Jones: We’re in wonderful form but I want to push boundaries

Nathan Jones has described their form over the past couple of months as “wonderful” but the Charlton Athletic manager has told his in-form side to keep striving to deliver even more.

The Addicks have won eight and lost just once in their last 10 matches which puts them top of a League Two table for that period.

That return has seen the South Londoners cut the gap to the play-off places and they moved fifth after Tuesday’s 1-0 victory against Barnsley.

Next up for Charlton is fourth-placed Stockport away in a Saturday lunchtime kick off.

Asked about the Addicks’ record in the last 10 fixtures, Jones told the South London Press: “What it shows is the team is getting better. We want to improve month in and month out – push boundaries.

“That is the ongoing work that is constant.

“To win eight out of 10 is a wonderful return – at any level of the game. To have only lost to the best side in the league, that shows you are in a good place.

“My only disappointment with that game is we weren’t us. Give Birmingham credit because they must’ve done something right for us not to be us.

“The other game was Blackpool where we were 2-0 up and should’ve seen the game out.

“We’re in a really good place but at no point do we want to rest on our laurels or think we’ve cracked it because I want us to be sitting here in a month’s time and for us to be a better team than we are now. That is my job to see that.”

Charlton have 12 matches remaining and have opened up the possibility that even a late push for the second promotion spot is not impossible.

“We take one game at a time but when it comes to evaluating we do it in five-game blocks,” said Jones. “But it is the business end of the season because once you get to here then every game is big and important in its own right.

“What I am really pleased about is at this time of last season it was the business end and we needed points for a totally different reason than we do now.

“A win is a win, I’ll take any win at this point in time. I’m delighted at the consistency of the team.

“We (take it in five-game blocks) because we work on a points tally that historically if you want to achieve one thing you have to get it, if you want to achieve something else you get that thing. If you break it down into five-game blocks then it gets easier to work out – otherwise it can run away with you.

“It (the Stockport game) is the early kick off on Sky. There is so much at stake – it couldn’t be better.”

PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD