Nathan Jones has criticised the quick turnaround facing his Charlton Athletic side for their next two Championship fixtures.
The Addicks head to second-placed Middlesbrough on Wednesday evening before another match on the road on Saturday against Oxford United. The latter has been moved forward to a 12.30pm kick-off and will be televised on Sky Sports+.
Charlton will have precious little time for rest and recovery.
Goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski (hamstring) is the closest injured player to a return to the first-team squad with Collins Sichenje, Matty Godden, Reece Burke and Josh Edwards sidelined.
Nathan Jones celebrates the 1-0 win over Birmingham City on Saturday/Picture: Paul Edwards
Charlton are nine points clear of the relegation zone with 10 matches remaining.
Jones admitted that the south-east London club can express their disappointment at the scheduling but added: “It won’t change the fixtures. You would think someone would look and say: ‘We want to bring a game forward, because it is such a big one. Okay, but they are at Middlesbrough on a Wednesday night’. For some teams they can fly up and down on the day. That isn’t the case for us.
“It’s just a big demand. The Championship is a big demand anyway for players. There is just no thought process behind it.
“Middlesbrough have played later for TV, they had to play Sunday. Look, we might get a bit of an advantage going into Wednesday but a real severe hindrance going into Saturday. That is what they need to look at because it has happened quite a lot - it really, really has.
