Thierry Small is ready to kick on at Charlton following an encouraging full debut against high-flying Bolton Wanderers.
The 19-year-old, who joined the club in early February, marked his first start with his first senior goal in last weekend's 3-3 draw at the Toughsheet Community Stadium, with his deep cross evading the unmarked Freddie Ladapo and deceiving Bolton stopper Joel Coleman.
“It was a good goal - I didn’t mean it!" explained Small. "I put the ball into a nice area and I thought Freddie got a touch on it initially. I was grateful that it went into the back of the net. I want to keep on building now and hopefully get more assists and goals.
“It was a really good game to be involved in for my debut. It was an end-to-end and the fans had their hearts on their sleeves. They're the games you want to be involved in - the big games. I’m glad that as a team we managed to get a point from the game. It was a much-needed point for us.
"We want to keep kicking on," he added. "Any time I play on the pitch for this club I will put my all into it and the fans are definitely going to see passion and hunger."
Looking ahead to Saturday's clash against Portsmouth at The Valley, Small said: “I’m really looking forward to it. It should be a really good game and hopefully we can get the points that we need and put on a good show for the fans.
“You always want to be playing against the best sides. We were unfortunate not to get the full three points at Bolton because the lads played well.
"The manager has been drilling us the whole week on our structure and shape. It's really good to get that discipline and cohesion between each other so we can play good football. If everyone is on it on Saturday we can get the three points and hopefully that is what it brings."
The left-sided defender is familiar with Nathan Jones' philosophies having worked with the Welshman previously.
“I worked with the manager at Southampton a little bit," he continued. "He was really good and intense, and he gets a lot out of his players. That's one thing I was going to expect when he came in - that intensity, discipline and hard work which I love to do as a player anyway.
"With him being here it's great because the standards are going to lift and the lads are going to push on and get what we need out of the games."
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