Charlton AthleticSport

‘Kicked the hell out of him’ – Northampton boss accuses Charlton of targeting midfielder 

Northampton boss Jon Brady has accused Charlton Athletic of targeting midfielder Marc Leonard during Saturday’s 1-1 draw.

Brighton loanee Leonard was brought down six times during the 90 minutes, with defender Rarmani Edmonds-Green being shown a yellow card in second-half stoppage time for a foul on the 22-year-old.

Karoy Anderson opened the scoring for Nathan Jones’ side, but Harry Isted’s mistake in the 80th minute allowed Northampton to equalise.

As quoted by the Northampton Chronicle & Echo, Brady said: “You could see he was targeted today.

“He was kicked from pillar to post every time he got on the ball. The ref did nothing about it and I thought that was pretty poor. The foul count must have been very high on him.

“You should see his shins, there’s a load of blood coming out because he’s been kicked all over the place. You talk about referees doing their job and protecting players but there was none of that today.

“Charlton have gone from a good footballing side under Michael Appleton to being hugely direct and a team that’s trying to be aggressive and trying to get themselves out of a relegation battle and one player they targeted today was Marc Leonard. 

“They kicked the hell out of him and that happens to quality players who are very good on the ball.

“I’m disappointed with that but for two years now Marc’s shown resilience and he kept getting up and finally in the end he had to come off. 

“I think he’s OK but he’s bruised and battered. We could all see what was happening and I think the officials should have managed it better.”

PICTURE: KYLE ANDREWS

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