24/04/2025 10:42
Charlton Athletic boss Nathan Jones has‘high hopes’ for defender Zach Mitchell following his loan spell with St. Johnstone.
Charlton Athletic have a huge two weeks ahead of them as they look to secure promotion to the Championship. With two games left in their campaign, CAFC have a four-point gap to 2nd, but face Wrexham next, who currently occupy that spot.
Nathan Jones’ side have charged back towards the automatic promotion spots recently, and the 4-0 away win over 3rd-place Wycombe Wanderers last weekend showed they mean business. Despite having so much to play for, Jones is already taking a look towards the future though.
Speaking to the South London Press, Jones has been discussing defender Zach Mitchell, who is on loan at St. Johnstone. Mitchell was with CAFC in the first half of the campaign but moved to Scotland for more game time, and he has found just that.
Regarding the defender, Jones said:
“He has done very well. It is a shame he has missed the semi-final because of the hamstring injury but it is a learning curve for him.
“We will evaluate everything that has gone on up there, but he is someone we have high hopes for. He is someone who plays the way we want to play.
“We felt we couldn’t give him 15-20 games in the second half of the season – St Johnstone have been able to give him far more game time. So it has been a very productive loan for him.”
Long-term future at Charlton?
Charlton Athletic currently have four centre-backs at the club. One is loan Tom McIntyre, and two of whom are Macauley Gillesphey and Lloyd Jones, who both turn 30 this year.
With that said, Mitchell could be seen as a long-term successor to one of the latter two. Gillesphey and Jones have been standout players this season, but there’s no harm in keeping one eye on the future.
Mitchell is just 20 years old and could be brought into the first-team fold next season. He could easily be a long-term option along with Alex Mitchell, who signed from fellow Londoners Millwall last season.
A decisive 10 days
As said earlier, it is a 10-day period coming up for CAFC. After such an emphatic win over automatic promotion rivals Wycombe, they will want to replicate that against Wrexham in their late top-two bid.
Beating the Red Dragons would move them to within one point of their opposition. Wrexham also have a slightly more difficult last day of the season, away to Lincoln City.
With CAFC hosting relegation-threatened Burton Albion on the final day, they have a real chance. However, if Charlton Athletic do not get over the line, it’s the dreaded play-offs for Jones’ side.
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