'100%' - Ex Everton and Southampton defender provides Charlton transfer update

Former Everton and Southampton defender Thierry Small has admitted that he would love to stay at Charlton Athletic next season with his short-term contract set to expire at the end of the campaign.

The Addicks star arrived at The Valley on a free transfer shortly after the close of the January window. Small had been released by Southampton on deadline day, having spent the first half of the season on loan at St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership.

The teenager has started the last nine League One matches for Charlton, picking up a goal and an assist, and caused problems for Stevenage at The Valley with his attacking moves on Monday. At just 19 years old the player has a bright future ahead of him and admitted he can see that being at Charlton.

He told the press after full-time: "When I came, he [Nathan Jones] was getting appointed and I was really excited. I knew what I was going to get - hard work and demanding the best out of his players. That's great for players.

"At the moment we are just focusing until the end of the season and then we will see what comes up [in terms of a contract extension]."

Small was then asked if he had been thinking about his future and whether he would like to stay at Charlton following the end of the season. He replied: "100%. I'm really enjoying my time here right now and I'm open ears for what the future holds."

Small is a product of the West Brom and Everton academy systems, but only made one appearance for the Toffees' first team before joining Southampton in 2021. He stayed on the South Coast for three years but only managed one appearance for the Saints amid loan spells to Port Vale and St Mirren.

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Reflecting on the Stevenage game, he said: "It was a bit unfortunate not to pick up the three points but we've done our best and worked as hard as we can. We just have to keep doing that. I'm happy the fans were supporting us to the end as we tried to concentrate.

"We knew that they were going to be very direct. I thought we had good spells in the first half, we just wanted a few more opportunities to try and punish them in the final third, we weren't really able to. We have to keep building. We kept a clean sheet and concentrated right until the end. There are little things we can take from the game."