Charlton Athletic: Carlton Palmer pinpoints "important" Nathan Jones factor | OneFootball

Carlton Palmer has given his verdict on Charlton Athletic's pursuit of possible free agent signings

Carlton Palmer believes that Charlton Athletic need to back Nathan Jones in order to boost their promotion chances.

The 51-year-old has claimed that the Addicks will be exploring the free agent market in order to find potential improvements to their first team squad.

The League One side will be aiming to compete for promotion to the Championship this season, and have made a positive start to the new campaign.

Jones’ side currently sit fifth in the third division table, having earned 10 points from their opening five games.

The London club are three points off league leaders Wrexham, and will have their sights set on keeping pace with the front-runners in order to earn a top six finish this year.

Carlton Palmer makes Charlton free agent chase claim

Palmer has claimed that Jones needs to be backed by the Charlton board if they are to compete for promotion this year.

He has warned that the likes of Huddersfield Town, Birmingham City, Stockport County and Wrexham have all spent well this summer, and that recruitment will be key to the promotion race.

“Nathan Jones, the manager of Charlton, has got off to a very, very good start this season. They are fifth in the table on 10 points, level with Stockport, Barnsley and Birmingham,” Palmer told Football League World.

“Wrexham are on top of the table on 13 points.

“Nathan Jones has come out and said he’s looking at free agent signings, and it is vital that the club back him.

“Because if they have the intention that they want to go up, you’ve only got to look at Huddersfield, Birmingham, Stockport and Wrexham, the money that they’ve invested in the football club, and they’ve got away incredibly quickly.

“Birmingham, we’ve seen them pay a lot to sign Jay Stansfield.

“Huddersfield have strengthened, Stockport have strengthened really well.

“So it’s important [they back Jones].

“The owners have come out and said ‘listen, we want to be competing, we want to be looking to get promotion’ and if Charlton are going to gatecrash the likes of Birmingham, Wrexham and Stockport and Huddersfield, they’ve got to be competing and bringing players into the football club.

“It’s important that they back him, and that he brings in the right calibre of player.

“But, we all saw what Nathan Jones did at Luton Town. He knows the game, he knows how to get promoted and, given the opportunity and the tools to do the job, we will see him do a very, very good job.

“This is going to be a very, very competitive league, when you look at the teams that are there: Wrexham, Stockport, Barnsley, Birmingham, Huddersfield, it’s going to be very competitive for those automatic places.

“And that will basically come down to, as it always does, who can recruit well, and who is able to recruit and bring in quality players.”

Nathan Jones’ Charlton transfer comments

Jones has claimed that he would like to keep strengthening the squad after a positive summer transfer window.

The Charlton boss confirmed that the club will keep a keen eye on the free agents market in order to see what additions they can potentially make.

“We’ll see what we are able to do,” said Jones, via London News Online.

“We’ve had a good window.

“We’ve strengthened the squad considerably, significantly.

“We’d like to keep adding a bit more quality.

“We know we can’t compete with certain people and so on.

“But it’s been a good window.

“We’ve brought in people that have significantly improved us.”

A positive summer window from Charlton

Charlton finished 16th in the table last year, but now look far more competitive in League One after a positive summer of transfer business.

Any free agent deals they can do to further improve will be a bonus at this stage, but it might be what’s needed to keep pace at the top.

It is set to be very competitive in League One this year, and competing for automatic promotion will be difficult given the money that’s been spent elsewhere.