EXCLUSIVE
Charlton vs Southampton: Nathan Jones reflects on ‘tough time’ at Saints and Addicks’ strong start in Championship.

Nathan Jones had only 14 games in charge of Southampton, but claims he profited from the experience and has since achieved promotion with Charlton to the Championship.

Watch Charlton versus Southampton live on Sky Sports+ on Saturday at 12.30pm. It was a difficult moment, but it served as a learning lesson for me, and I am a better, stronger person and manager as a result.” Nathan Jones’ stint at Southampton continues to sting. It was a painful three months in the Premier League.

However, his recuperation and rebirth at Charlton provides a positive perspective as he prepares his current team to play his previous one, live on Sky Sports+ this Saturday.

“I don’t want too many times in my career to have those experiences that I have to learn from, but that’s all in the past,” he told Sky Sports earlier this month.

I’m in a great situation right now; I’m at a club that I adore, that is near to my heart, and that feels like home.” We’re sitting in the grandstand at The Valley, which will host the match this weekend.

It has become something of a fortress for Charlton and Jones, who started coaching in the club’s development system. Jones has only suffered defeat three times in 37 league games as Charlton’s manager.

Charlton have been on the rise since his appointment in February 2024, building on their League One play-off final victory at Wembley Stadium last season to sit tenth in the Championship table.

“We want to be competitive at this level, not consolidate or simply be okay. “We want to be extremely competitive,” asserts Jones. However, there is no denying that his team has improved significantly.

They hold the division’s best defensive record. No team has had more goals after 90 minutes. It’s a combination that has helped them get off to a solid start this season.

“It shows the fitness level, the relentlessness in our play,” Jones says of the team’s four injury-time goals. “But also a mindset in which we go all the way, attempt to win games, make positive adjustments, and feel that we can win games.

“And that comes from having a solid foundation.” We’re always in games and never out of them. And then it offers us a platform to compete and win.”

Southampton, on the other hand, has fallen to 17th. Will Still, who was hired in the summer, has been fired, and while interim manager Tonda Eckert has won a couple of games, the Saints are not where they intended to be when they announced their immediate return to the Premier League.

However, Jones, who will be the south coast’s head coach from November 2022 to February 2023, does not underestimate the challenge.

“This is the most difficult Championship fixture. They are an ex-Premier League squad, as I am well aware, with genuine talent, regardless of who they have sold and who they have brought in.

“Their resources are phenomenal in comparison to many other Championship teams, and they have a very skilled, dangerous squad.

“We have to be the best version of ourselves. That is all we preach. If we are the best version of ourselves and Southampton comes here and outperforms us, we raise our hands.

“But the big thing we’re concerned about is making sure that we are the best version of ourselves, and then we’ll see what happens.” Following the stop-start character of the Championship’s initial months, which are punctuated by three international breaks, the winter block begins.

After Southampton, Charlton will face each of the Championship’s top three teams in their next four games. Jones describes it as “a really tough run”. But he’s enjoying it.

“That’s why you do it, these games,” he says, smiling. “It’ll be a massive crowd here at the Valley on Saturday, against a fantastic team, and one I’m really looking forward to, and I know the players are too.”

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