Charlton Athletic manager Nathan Jones confirmed that Nathaniel Chalobah’s withdrawal at half-time last night was due to a recurrence of the thigh injury while had ruled the midfielder out for the best part of two months.
The 31-year-old was back in the Addicks’ starting line-up for the first time since the end of August but had to be replaced at half-time in Tuesday evening’s 1-0 loss to Bolton Wanderers.
It looked as if Chalobah suffered the fresh issue after a crunching – but fair – challenge by Akin Famewo.
Nathaniel Chalobah/Picture: Kyle Andrews
It was the experienced midfielder’s poor pass which led to the only goal on another instantly forgettable night in SE7, Sam Dalby racing clear to beat Will Mannion and consign the south Londoners to a fourth straight loss.
Charlton are winless in 11 matches and are set to once again be depleted of options in the middle of the park for Saturday’s home game against Sheffield United.
It throws further scrutiny on the recruitment process in the summer with Chalobah’s injury record in recent seasons extremely well documented. He played just 581 minutes for Sheffield Wednesday last season and was only in their matchday squad for three of their first 34 league matches.
The Addicks signed Timothy Ouma on loan from Slavia Prague but he had produced a couple of poor performances before the last international break.
Charlton have made no official comment on the 22-year-old amid claims he did not return from duty with Kenya in September.
Lech Poznan had dropped Ouma to their reserve set up last season after he broke team rules, also believed to be a late return from international duty. That information was readily in the public domain.
Charlton agreed a deal that could be made permanent for Ouma but it was dependent on appearances.
Asked about Chalobah’s withdrawal, Jones said: “He got injured. I think it is the same thing as what kept him out at the start of the season – his thigh.
“Who knows (how long he will be out). We will have the diagnosis, but it wasn’t a tactical decision. We won every game with him at the start of the season and then he got injured.
“We tried to bring him back – he has trained with us for nearly two weeks so it is not too early. We were always going to give him 55-60 minutes anyway, but I think he has pulled his thigh. It is a tough one again.”
Charlton have scored a paltry 11 goals in 14 Championship matches.
South London Sport: Charlton Athletic Edition asked Jones if there had been enough expenditure in the summer window to upgrade his options.
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