Jackson left to sweat on return of Addicks trio ruled out of Plymouth defeat by Covid-19

BY LOUIS MENDEZ

Charlton manager Johnnie Jackson admits he’s unsure when Conor Washington, Akin Famewo and Josh Davison will be fit to return to action as the trio missed the defeat at Plymouth after contracting Covid-19.

The threesome were ruled out of the trip to Home Park as EFL guidelines directed clubs to begin testing their players daily for coronavirus due to the rise in infections from the omicron variant.

Kieran Agard scored the only goal of the game on the stroke of half-time at Home Park as Jackson tasted defeat in the first match since he was confirmed as permanent Addicks boss on Friday.

The South Londoners are set to travel to take on AFC Wimbledon at Plough Lane on Boxing Day but Jackson is yet to learn if he’ll have access to his absentees, who were sorely missed at Plymouth.

“I don’t know the answer,” he admitted.

“Our physio Adam Coe is not here, he’s missing out as well because he’s having to isolate. I need to liaise with him and find out what the protocols are. When exactly they tested positive and how long they have to wait.

“It was later part of the week [that he became aware of their results]. If we’d have known earlier on in the week, you’d prepare a different way. But we’d done all of our match prep with those guys in mind. We lost them later on in the week and it disrupts your preparations. In Akin and Conor, they’re two really important players in the first eleven.

“That did disrupt our preparations, losing the three lads late on but it was an opportunity for other lads. They have to be ready to grab those opportunities. I don’t think anyone did enough as a team today to get anything out of the game. We didn’t test their goalie enough and were poor in the final third.”

Jackson’s side were below par at Home Park as their winless run on the road stretched to three league games.

“A disappointing day,” added Jackson.

“A disappointing result. I don’t think that was our best performance today. A little bit flat. I don’t think we did enough to get anything out of the game.

“I didn’t think there was anything in the game. There was a period in the first-half where we were on top and missed a couple of chances. That was the time we could have stamped our authority on the game. We should have scored in that period but we didn’t, we let them off the hook a little bit. You think you’re going to go into the game at 0-0, with the game in the balance but you give away a poor goal. Now, you’re having to go out and chase the game when there was nothing in it. It was a poor goal from our point of view.

“They played the conditions well in the second-half. They used the wind to their advantage which we didn’t do well enough in the first-half. We found it difficult to get balls up to Jayden [Stockley] in the second-half with the conditions, and when we did the final-third, crossing, decision making and execution of the pass wasn’t our usual level. I don’t think we did enough in that second-half.

“They’ve got to take those opportunities. We need to find solutions so if we do lose players the next people in line need to be ready to step up. We haven’t quote done that today for whatever reason. We’ll have to look back at the game and find the areas to improve things. We’ve got a good week now ahead to Wimbledon.”

PHOTOS: KYLE ANDREWS