'I want Joe Rankin-Costello to be a pivotal player for Charlton Athletic over the next four years'
Addicks boss Nathan Jones full of praise for midfielder - and rest of his side - following 1-1 draw against Championship league leaders Coventry City
Joe Rankin-Costello runs off in celebration after scoring
Nathan Jones was in an upbeat mood after Charlton Athletic’s 1-1 draw against Coventry City this afternoon.
After conceding right at the very end of Monday’s match at Portsmouth to head back to the capital pointless, the last thing the Addicks needed was to concede with a little more than two minutes played against the Sky Blues - Ellis Simms netting.
But Charlton found a response in the 69th minute, Joe Rankin-Costello scoring his first goal since signing from Blackburn Rovers in the summer transfer window.
Rankin-Costello has had to bide his time waiting for an opportunity, only landing his first Championship start for the SE7 outfit in the Portsmouth match.
It was a simple finish for the 26-year-old after Sky Blues keeper Carl Rushworth was unable to hold Charlie Kelman’s shot.
“Question marks need to be asked of the management team that they haven’t played him [Rankin-Costello] earlier,” said Jones. “He has been wonderful. I know what he can do in the final third - that is why we bought him.
“We had a good start and it was difficult for him to break in. He had a minor injury in pre-season. He trains like that (the way he played) every day. There were suspicions he had something wrong with his calf (after the Portsmouth fixture). He trained fine yesterday and then to put in the level of performance he did was outstanding.
“Sometimes you go with what you know and trust. I persevered with people but he is showing a level of performance. When you bring players in it is not always immediately that they have that impact. Joe has got four years here, so over the next four years I want Joe to be a pivotal part of what we do.
“It was an excellent football game - both sides were absolutely right at it, trying to win it. To concede after two minutes and put in the performance we did shows that we have got bags and bags of character.
“After their goal we were brilliant. We tested them. Once we sorted the press out then we had very few problems. When it became open in the second half they had one or two chances but we had so many situations.
“That was a top-level Championship game. I’m proud of the group. We have gone through a really tough time with the games we’ve had and the injuries have killed us. But when we have got our best players available then that is the levels we can put in. We haven’t had that (in terms of squad options) and that’s been the frustrating thing after a great start.
“It has hurt us. We have just come up - we haven’t got a Championship squad that has been here for five, six, seven, eight, nine or 10 years. We’re new to it, so we were always going to be stretched.
“We were outstanding in the first half. People tell me we were better in the second half. I’ll have to watch it back for an educated view. First half, you really thought we were going to score. Miles [Leaburn] had a great chance and to be fair to the boy (Carl Rushworth), without being disrespectful to our goalkeeper, he is probably the best one in the league. He makes huge saves every week. Thomas [Kaminski] made a great save in the second half as well.
“We’ve seen two good goalkeepers. Bezza (Luke Berry) is in and needs to do it (take the shot). We’ve had situations. We kept testing them and we made positive subs to try and win the game.”
Jones was asked if there are any imminent incoming deals with the transfer window now open.
“We have to strengthen quickly,” said the Welshman. “I can’t do any more. I’m sleeping at the training ground. I’m doing 15 hours a day - everyone is working tirelessly to do it. Literally we can’t do any more to get people in and get ours fit. Let’s see.
“We know what we want. We have enquired about those players and now we have to somehow get that over the line, if possible. That (the speed of transfers) will depend on other clubs.”
Charlton’s players appealed for a penalty in the first half after Charlie Kelman’s shot struck the left arm of Coventry centre-back Joel Latibeaudiere.
“His hand is down by his side - it hits it,” said Jones. “It stops it going in the bottom corner. I don’t know the rules anymore. When we ask for feedback there is always a way around everything.
“Against Portsmouth some of the decisions were really tough to look at. I was alarmed, worried really, at certain things that went on.
“We had bookings today that they didn’t get. The interpretation varies wildly from week to week.”
Charlton are 19th in the table and four points above the relegation zone after today’s results.
“We’ve got a game in hand on teams,” said Jones. “It’s too early (to say his side is in a relegation battle). We had a great start and then a poor spell - now we need to come through that. If you get what you deserve over the course of the year then I’m sure we won’t be near that.
“What we can’t do is rest on our laurels and think we are anything because, one, we’re favourites to go down and, two, we’ve had a tough period. Levels of performance like that and midweek show we are a really good Championship side. That is what I believe we are.
“Portsmouth was sickening because we should have been out of sight. We had so many situations where if we had shown an ounce of quality then we would have won the game.
“After Portsmouth you have to look deeper than the feeling you have straight after it. The level of performance was outstanding. Today we have replicated that against the league leaders.”
All pictures: Kyle Andrews