Jones: “Such a loss is truly frustrating”

Nathan Jones expressed his deep frustration after Charlton Athletic suffered a heartbreaking 2–1 defeat to Portsmouth at Fratton Park in the Sky Bet Championship.

Late Equalizer Denied by Last-Minute Goal

Charlton seemed to have salvaged a point when Harvey Knibbs scored in the sixth minute of stoppage time. The Addicks believed a draw was the least they deserved, but a dramatic last-minute goal by Min-Hyeok Yang ensured that Jones’ side returned without any points.

Jones’ Disappointment After the Defeat

In his post-match comments, Jones stated: “It would have been a real injustice if we only drew, but to lose in the way we did makes me feel sick. For most of the match, I thought we played excellently.”

“We caused them real problems, quieted the home crowd, and looked dangerous. If we had a bit more quality in the final third, we could have gone ahead at half-time. In the second half, we had great chances. Their keeper made an incredible save from either Conor [Coventry] or Burkey [Reece Burke], and we had other opportunities too.”

“Then we conceded from a really poor corner. We rarely give away goals like that, but we did today. We kept pressing and finally got the equalizer we deserved, but then to let it slip away at the end was crazy, absolutely crazy.”

Jones continued, “I’m devastated because they shouldn’t have scored from that position. We need to defend better, win those second balls. To lose in this manner is sickening.”

Jones made five changes to the starting lineup, including giving Joe Rankin-Costello his first league start for the club. He praised Rankin-Costello’s performance as “outstanding” and was pleased with the contributions of Reece Burke, Amari’i Bell, and Charlie Kelman, all of whom returned from injuries.