Charlton Athletic

Charlton Athletic defender Lloyd Jones has a simple response to those who predicted the Addicks to struggle in the Championship this season - "Stuff them".

Jones scored the equaliser in an opening day comeback victory against Derby County at The Valley on Saturday.

Many pundits expect the south-east London club to be battling relegation in the 2026-27 campaign but the 30-year-old says they do not pay attention to those predictions.

"It's good to be the underdog sometimes. You haven't got as much pressure going into games," Jones told BBC Radio London.

"But it's just outside noise. We're a confident bunch. There are going to be some tough times this season as well as good ones.

"And it's just about how quickly we can recover from that."

Charlton's 2-1 win over the Rams was the first time they have come from behind to win a league game since May 2025, when they beat Burton Albion in League One.

"Obviously I would have liked a clean sheet but to come from behind, especially in the first Championship game, and to get three points is a great feeling," said Jones, who recently signed a new two-year deal at the club.

"We're just together really. We've signed a lot of new lads but I think they've fitted in really well."

When asked what is possible this season, Jones added: "I think for us, we've just got to keep building.

"We had our targets set last week and I think if we can improve our points tally, goal difference and scoring, it will stand us in good stead."

Listen to the full interview with Lloyd Jones above or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.

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Derby County and Charlton Athletic are both interested in taking Nigerian goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo on loan from Wrexham, with the 24-year-old keen to move this summer. (Alan Nixon - subscription required), external

For more EFL transfer news, read Monday's full gossip column here.

Adam Cottier
BBC Radio 5 Live report

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You could sense it.

That renewed optimism, a classic pre-season cliche, maybe, but at The Valley there was a buzz.

A hum in the sunshine from those - young, and old - giddy with excitement. This south-east London stadium was alive with anticipation before the game - both sets of fans hoping for better than last season. More play-off places; more hope.

Twenty years ago Charlton were embarking on their most recent Premier League campaign.

The road back to within any kind of range of it has been a long one - but Nathan Jones has a tenacious team that reinforced his belief that they are now better equipped with a gutsy and determined home win in front of a home crowd that by full-time had reached fever pitch.

Tyreece Campbell's winning goal exemplified endeavour. A purposeful run by Miles Leaburn eventually led to Campbell firing home the kind of left-footed shot that could not have been struck any sweeter. It was a dazzling moment, in a game where clear openings were limited to just the actual goals themselves.

Campbell has been linked with a move away. Jones told me after the game he wants to keep the forward and it might be the case that Campbell can only get better. He and Karlan Grant, along with Sonny Carey, all looked a threat and Charlton looked better and better as the game went on.

Jones was rightly thrilled with his side's high-octane second-half turnaround.

That pre-match hum around the stadium had gotten a little louder as fans spilled out onto the Floyd Road at full-time.

Charlton Athletic boss Nathan Jones spoke to BBC London following his side's 2-1 victory over Derby County:

"I'm really pleased – the result is everything and we've bedded in a lot of new signings We had a captain's goal where he gets over the back and scores a great header.

"With TC [Tyreece Campbell], he gets in those positions all the time and one-v-one he is a threat. We just want the outcomes from him.

"Last week he had a similar chance, went outside and hit the bar with a rasper. Then he cut inside and hit the corner (to score against Cheltenham in the EFL Cup).

"There are 45 more games. Last season we had a really good start – we had that momentum after coming up – and once we picked up a few injuries we didn't have the squad to cope with that. This season we have got the squad to cope with it a little bit more."

Image source, Opta

Charlton and Derby get their new Championship season under way with a meeting at The Valley on Saturday (15:00 BST).

The Addicks, who began the campaign with an EFL Cup win at Cheltenham last weekend, are unbeaten in seven seasons on the opening day, winning five of those games, most recently 1-0 at home to Watford last year.

The Rams exited the EFL Cup at home to Lincoln and have seen a proposed takeover fall through in recent days while their 3-1 defeat at Stoke last season was their third straight defeat on the opening day.

• Charlton Athletic have lost their past two home league games against Derby, only losing more consecutively between December 1946 and May 1951 (5).

• Derby County have lost just one of their previous five league meetings with Charlton Athletic (W3 D1); a 2-1 defeat in February 2024.

• Charlton lost five of their final eight league games last season (W1 D2), while only Sheffield Wednesday (12.7%) spent a lower proportion of their games in a winning position than the Addicks (16.5%) in the Championship last term.

• Derby lost six of their final eight away games last season (W2), though did win their most recent match at QPR in April (3-2).

• Carlton Morris' 12 league goals for Derby last season was his second-most in a single campaign in the top four tiers, behind his 20 for Luton Town in 2022-23; five of his goals in 2025-26 came from corners, more than anybody else.

Charlton Athletic manager Nathan Jones says the club's summer recruitment has given him more competition for places.

The Addicks have made seven signings in the close season across defensive, midfield and attacking areas.

"We've recruited significantly in certain areas," Jones told BBC Radio London.

"Our left side, for example, got depleted last year and we never recovered from it, so we made sure we rectified that.

"In attacking areas, we feel now we've got real competition. We've got more pace, more power [and] more fluidity.

"We feel we're better equipped to maintain any runs that we have and to fend off any bad runs.

"[Last season] when we picked up injuries to key players, we didn't have the squad to cope with it. This year, we have."

Jones also said the club were looking to add another wide attacker before the end of the transfer window.

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Paul Sullivan
Fan writer

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After a discombobulating week of anxiety over club sale speculation and frustration at the lack of midfield reinforcements, it was a relief to experience competitive football again.

That frustration eased when Nathaniel Chalobah signed a one-year deal with the Addicks. Now with the further midfield loan signing of Timothy Ouma from Slavia Prague, it gives supporters even more reason to feel optimistic about the club's options in that area.

Chalobah made an immediate impression in Charlton's Carabao Cup first-round tie at Cheltenham Town.

Charlton looked resplendent in their fetching purple third kit and, on paper, possessed too much quality for the League Two side. Apart from spells at the beginning of each half, that proved to be the case as three fine goals secured a deserved victory.

The Addicks showed real class in turning defence into attack, combining pace, power and control. Chalobah provided the composure and experience expected of him, while Sonny Carey contributed a goal and an assist.

Midfield was widely regarded as one of our weaker areas last season, so seeing Chalobah, Carey and indeed Conor Coventry influence the game so quickly was particularly encouraging.

With Ouma now added to the squad, competition and depth in the centre of the pitch appears considerably healthier now.

Forward play has also been a concern, but goals for Tyreece Campbell and Matty Godden should provide both players with a valuable confidence boost as the new campaign begins.

I was delighted with the result, especially after the disappointment of last season's early cup exit at Cambridge United, when Charlton were beaten by lower-league opposition with a weakened side.

Some may argue that this match did not matter, but given the disjointed pre-season and the continued rumblings around the club's ownership, this victory was the perfect tonic before Saturday's league opener against Derby County at The Valley.

And of course, we have been rewarded with a plum EFL Cup tie at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in the second round.

Charlton put the game against Cheltenham beyond doubt with a three-goal burst in just 16 minutes, helped by winning the ball back and attacking quickly in transition.

The one negative was Will Mannion's poor goalkeeping for Cheltenham's goal.

Goalkeeping coach Stephen Henderson has work to do to restore confidence in Mannion and Thomas Kaminski, with consistency between the posts essential this season.

So with manager Nathan Jones revealing he still wants to bring in someone to challenge Rob Apter on the right side and still the possibility we will see departures, we nevertheless feel we are in a better place now to take on the rigours of a second Championship season.

The Valley should be rocking on Saturday.

Buckle in and get ready for the ride.

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Bristol Rovers have signed Charlton's Keenan Gough and Tottenham midfielder Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny on season-long loan deals.

Steve Evans has overhauled his squad summer as he prepares for a first full season in charge of the Gas but did lose Josh McEachran earlier this week.

Russell-Denny is an England Under-19 international while Gough, 20, has made three league appearances for Charlton.

Evans told BBC Radio Bristol: "Reiss is an exceptionally gifted boy. He trained with us, and some of the things he did with manipulating the ball and moving it around were special.

"I've just got to make a judgement call. If we had him in four or five days earlier, he would certainly be in a Bristol Rovers shirt to play Peterborough, so he's a gifted boy that we're fortunate that Tottenham have placed his care in our hands."

Rovers start their season with a Carabao Cup tie against Peterborough - one of Evans' former clubs - on Saturday.

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Charlton Athletic fan and BBC London reporter Louis Mendez says supporters "can't believe" there has been "more talk about takeovers" this week.

The south london club has had five owners in the past six years, with a group of United States-based investors called Global Football Partners (GFP) taking over in 2023.

Addicks chairman Gavin Carter has played down a report in the Guardian, external newspaper that the club is up for sale after just three years.

Carter responded on the club website, external, saying the "club ownership group is seeking new investment to help us progress...with our five-year plan.

"This is similar to the route taken by clubs like Ipswich, Wrexham and Bolton, and is not new news for Charlton".

Mendez, host of the Charlton Live podcast, said: "A lot of fans can't believe they are going through this again.

"They've been through so many takeovers over the past few years, any time anything like this gets mentioned there are a lot of nervous Charlton fans.

"I quite simply have had enough of talking about Charlton owners, to be fair.

"Every club is for sale in some way, isn't it? And if you are out there looking for investment, someone comes in offering you a lot of money whereby they can take over the club, that's a sale isn't it?

"I think all options are on the table".

Listen to Louis Mendez discuss the story with BBC London's Emma Jones via BBC Sounds:

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Reading have been forced to move their final pre-season friendly against Charlton Athletic to The Valley because of concerns over the condition of the club's newly- laid pitch.

The hot, dry weather has affected the growth of the grass at the Select Car Leasing Stadium and with the playing surface unfit, Saturday's match will now be played behind closed doors at Charlton's home ground instead.

"This is not a decision anyone at the club wanted to make, but it is the right one," Reading co-chief executive Joe Jacobson told the club wesbite., external

"We've invested significantly in providing the team with the best possible playing surface for the season ahead.

"Unfortunately, the recent spell of hot and dry weather has slowed the development of the new pitch and, after taking expert advice, we've concluded that protecting it now gives us the best chance of having it in the condition we all want for the start of the League One campaign.

Reading open their League One campaign at home to Luton Town on 15 August.

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Charlton striker Kaheim Dixon has joined Serbian SuperLiga club Novi Pazar for an undisclosed fee after two seasons with the Championship outfit.

Having initially joined from Jamaica Premier League side Arnett Gardens in 2024, the 21-year-old struggled to get a foothold in the first team, making just five appearances.

Jamaica international Dixon went on loan to Crawley Town for the first half of last season, scoring one goal in 16 appearances across all competitions.

Manager Nathan Jones told the club website, external: "Kaheim's game time has been limited in the first team and he's had a loan, but we felt the best thing for his career was for him to go and find somewhere where he can play regularly."