Former Charlton Athletic right-back Danny Mills has highlighted the club’s bid for survival as a tough challenge with 11 games remaining. Mills believes that the Addicks will have to work really hard to produce the positive results over the course of the final few months of the season that will keep them in League One.
Charlton picked up their first win in 16 matches at Derby County on Tuesday night which saw them climb to 19th and above Reading who were handed a two point deduction. But with Cheltenham Town and Port Vale in the relegation zone being four and five points behind them both with two matches in hand, they could be very easily drafted back towards the bottom four.
Speaking to The Real EFL in an exclusive interview before the important midweek win, Mills established that for his former side to avoid relegation it would be a difficult task, with the previous months of the season simply not being good enough. That is what has ultimately got them into this awkward position.
“It’s going to be difficult, it’s a team low on confidence”.
“You finish the end of the season where you finish”.
“Charlton deserve to be 20th at the moment.”
Mills was instrumental in helping Charlton secure promotion to the Premier League in 1998, and impressed so much that he secured a move to Leeds United for over four million pounds, which at that time was a very respectable pitch for a defender. He also enjoyed a second spell at The Valley towards the end of his career in 2007, making 19 appearances.
Mills was keen to add that new manager Nathan Jones does not have very long to turn the tide at Charlton, with only 11 games of the campaign to play:
“Nathan Jones has come off the back of a few difficult jobs so his confidence won’t be high.”
“He’s got 10 days to turn that confidence around and try to get the players to buy into his ways.”
As the Addicks try to build on Tuesday’s shock result, their next four games are absolutely crucial. They take on Cheltenham Town, Carlisle United and Fleetwood Town at the beginning of March, all sides who are also in the relegation picture. Mills added that he would love for them to stay up and believes that if they do, Charlton can really push for promotion next year, which actually was the aim for this year.
“I desperately want them to stay up after having two successful spells there.”
“If they do survive they’ve got a decent chance of doing well next year.”
A very important couple of months await Charlton Athletic and new manager Nathan Jones as they set their sights on preserving their League One, but as their former player Danny Mills has highlighted, it certainly will not be an easy task.
