‘This is manageable pressure’ – Nathan Jones on League One play-off expectations

Nathan Jones has talked about not putting “critical pressure” on his Charlton Athletic squad for the League One run-in.

The Addicks are fourth in the table and bidding to secure a top-six finish for the first time since being relegated to England’s third tier in July 2020.

Asked if he wanted the weight of expectation to be solely on his shoulders, Jones told the South London Press: “I can’t take all the pressure. There is always pressure when you are in professional sport or doing something elite.

“I had pressure to stay in the game as a player – to earn another contract. There is the pressure to do well enough to achieve something on a daily basis, over a month or a season.

“Everyone feels pressure. But it is about the language we use. It isn’t ‘we have to’…‘we have to’…‘we have to’ and to heap more critical pressure on.

“What we do is say: ‘Listen, this is us’. It is reinforcing the message about what we do on a daily basis and then implement them in games. That is the pressure we have.

“We can only take one game as it comes. We can’t affect anything that anyone else does, apart from our direct opponents.

“There is an element of pressure but it is a manageable one. There are certain pressures in your life where people feel the walls are caving in on them – that is real pressure in life.

“This is sporting pressure, to achieve something if you are good enough, implement it and have God’s will then you can do something. It’s nice to live like that, it shows you are at the cutting edge of life.”

PICTURE: KYLE ANDREWS