Nathan Jones takes swipe at Wrexham ahead of 'bumper' Charlton Athletic clash

Charlton Athletic has levelled a dig at next opponents Wrexham after his side blew the automatic promotion race even further open. The Addicks defeated then second placed Wycombe Wanderers 4-0 on Monday, moving to just two points behind them in the process, and the result allowed Wrexham to move back into second place with a 2-1 away win over Blackpool.

With two games remaining, Charlton know they are a long shot for automatic promotion, four points behind second placed Wrexham and with Wycombe also above them, meaning they would need to win both remaining games and have a couple of results go their way, which is always a big ask when involving two rival teams that have accrued more than 80 points in the season.

But not only can Charlton make things interesting with a win over Wrexham on Saturday, but they can also have yet another say on the automatic promotion race, and ensure that if they do end up in the play-offs, they go into them in superb form, with just one game remaining after this one.

Speaking about the promotion race and the trip to North Wales, Welshman Jones took an interesting swipe at Wrexham, dubbing their situation a ‘circus’. "All we do is take a game as it comes," he said.

"We are not looking at the play-offs, we are not looking at Burton at home on the final game. We'll finish, we'll debrief, we'll breathe a little bit and then we'll move forward with Wrexham. It's a bumper game, we have to go to the circus and see what we can get."

It’s unclear exactly what Jones meant, whether he was referring to the international buzz around Wrexham, or just the fact that there will be a packed out Racecourse Ground, with the home fans ready to celebrate a third straight promotion should they win and Wycombe come up short elsewhere.

But the comment will surely grab the attention of Wrexham fans ahead of the game, which will feel like a momentous one foe both sides.

Speaking after the win over Wycombe, Jones said: “I thought we were excellent. It was a real frenetic start from both sides but then once we got the goal I thought there was only one side that was going to win it. We got the goal, got the second one. They are a very, very good side, they have the top scorer in the league. I thought Lloyd Jones was magnificent again today to curtail him.

“At half-time we said ‘what sort of a team do we want to be? Do we want to be a team that defends a two-goal lead and makes it edgy or do we just go after the game?’. We went after the game. It’s a magnificent performance because we come to second place, we win 4-0, we keep a clean sheet against one of the highest scorers, one of the top strikers in the league – it’s a wonderful performance and under the pressure we were under as well.”

Your next Charlton read, League One play-off draw & ticket price as Charlton Athletic book spot