Nathan Jones hoping to tie down Tyreece Campbell with talks ‘really advanced’
The winger, in the final year of his current contract, scored the winner against Derby.
Charlton manager Nathan Jones is hoping to secure match winner Tyreece Campbell on a new contract.
The 22-year-old winger, whose current terms expire next summer, scored the 80th-minute goal to seal a 2-1 victory over Derby on the opening day.
It capped off a rousing fightback by the south-east Londoners, who trailed at the break to Sammie Szmodics’ precise finish.
Captain Lloyd Jones headed home Karlan Grant’s cross to restore parity on the hour mark and then Campbell, the subject of interest in this transfer window from Preston, made sure Charlton’s record of not losing on the opening day of the league season was extended into an eighth campaign.
“I’m really pleased – the result is everything and we’ve bedded in a lot of new signings,” said Jones. “We had a captain’s goal where he gets over the back and scores a great header.
“With TC, he gets in those positions all the time and one-v-one he is a threat. We just want the outcomes from him.
“Last week he had a similar chance, went outside and hit the bar with a rasper. Then he cut inside and hit the corner (to score against Cheltenham in the EFL Cup).
“We are in really advanced negotiations with him. We’re hoping we can get that done.
“There are 45 more games. Last season we had a really good start – we had that momentum after coming up – and once we picked up a few injuries we didn’t have the squad to cope with that. This season we have got the squad to cope with it a little bit more.”
Last season’s first-choice number one Thomas Kaminski was not in the squad. The former Luton stopper has been the subject of transfer speculation.
“I just picked my two best keepers,” said Jones. “I’m concentrating on Will Mannion and Tiernan Brooks at the moment. We’ll see what the future brings.”
Derby’s start to the new season has not been the smoothest after Turki Alalshikh’s takeover fell through and Szmodics, signed on loan from Ipswich, was forced off early in the second half with a thigh issue which troubled him in the warm-up.
Rams head coach John Eustace said: “I’m really disappointed to lose. I didn’t think there was much in the game.
“We limited Charlton to no chances, really, so the two goals we conceded were really sloppy from a defensive point of view. If we want to pick up points then we’ve got to be better than that.
“We didn’t stop the cross or defend the cross itself. It’s too easy for the lad to get the header on it. The second goal, we are in a really good position in their area and then we don’t get the defensive structure right behind the ball. It was a lack of communication. We have got to defend the shot better.
“That is the first time that team has played together. There are some tired legs in there. We’ve got Fozzy (Craig Forsyth) at centre-half who is 37 and doing terrific.
“The effort and attitude of the group was sensational today, as it always is.
“Sammie had a slight tweak in the warm-up, so it was a big ask for him to start. He’s such a top player at this level, he took his goal sensationally well, we’ve just got to hope we’re not losing him for much time.”