Nathan Jones felt that it was two points dropped on Saturday afternoon as the Addicks drew 1-1 at Cambridge United in a game they dominated.
“We’ve got to keep a clean sheet,” he told CharltonTV. “We’ve led at Fleetwood – comfortable. We’ve led at Northampton – comfortable. We’ve lead here today – relatively comfortable apart from the wind. Yet we’ve dropped two points.
“We could be the highest points takers in the league in the last 13, 14 games but something keeps happening. When we don’t score chances at the other end and put the game to bed, then that’s what happens.”
In particular, Jones was disappointed with the manner in which the U’s claimed their equaliser.
“It’s a poor goal,” he said. “He shouldn’t score from there with that type of shot. There’s no doubt in my mind about that.”
Despite his disappointment, Jones emphasised that he saw a lot of good work from his players.
“The positives are it’s another point, undefeated, away from home, very difficult conditions – the wind is swirling, the pitch is rustic at best. And we created enough chances to have won the game. So those are the positives,” he said.
He was also keen to stress how difficult it can be to play on a surface like the one at the Cledara Abbey Stadium.
“The pitch didn’t allow too much good, fluent football,” he explained. “We went to Fleetwood the other day and it was just brutal. Today was brutal. The pitch is dry, they probably haven’t watered it in eight, ten years.”
The Addicks are now mathematically safe from relegation, but Jones is looking up the table, not down.
“That was the goal, but I never had any doubt in my mind that we wouldn’t [be safe], with the squad and how we work and how we do stuff,” he said.
“What I would really like us to do is really get some momentum pushing into next season.”
