Wrexham and Charlton Athletic are set to face each other in the Championship on Saturday after Addicks boss Nathan Jones stirred up trouble the last time they played
07:00, 08 Nov 2025
Charlton manager Nathan Jones has dismissed any notion of a grudge match when his side squares off against Wrexham on Saturday. The Cardiff-born boss ruffled feathers last season when he dubbed the Red Dragons as "the circus" ahead of a pivotal clash in April, with both teams vying for automatic promotion from League One.
The remarks sparked a backlash from Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson, who accused Jones of being 'disrespectful'. Jones later clarified his comment on BBC Radio London, saying: "I didn't mean the club or players or anything there because they are a very well run, excellent club. What I meant was what follows Wrexham around is a lot of pomp, a lot of ceremony, a lot of cameras, a lot of coverage, a lot of scrutiny."
Wrexham had the final say as they won 3-0 at the Racecourse Ground to clinch second place, with Hollywood co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac cheering from the stands. Despite this setback, Charlton still managed to secure their spot in the Championship this season after winning in the play-offs.
As the two teams prepare to face each other again in North Wales, Jones insists there's no bad blood on his part.
He said: "It was two very tough fixtures against them last year. It was a really tough fixture here and we were a little bit depleted away from home as the exertions of the week before cost us.
READ MORE: 'Surprise Wrexham departure left me hurt - but I missed one glaring warning sign'READ MORE: Wrexham urged to repeat transfer trick with decision made on Man Utd flop"It's a tough Championship game once again, it doesn't matter where you go. Every single game is really tough. Is there an edge between the two? I don't think so. We played last year and they got promoted, but so did we and we're looking forward to the fixture."
Charlton head into the clash as the better-positioned side, currently sitting sixth in the table and holding onto a play-off berth. Wrexham find themselves in 14th after their stalemate against Portsmouth during the week.
The Wrexham boss has looked back warmly on their previous encounter with the Addicks, when strikes from forward Sam Smith and midfielder Ollie Rathbone sealed their promotion.
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"It's one of the best days of my managerial-playing career," said Parkinson. "The documentation of that day, the result going for us at midday, the atmosphere in the ground, the celebration - it was just an incredible day.
"Like I always say to the lads, some players, supporters, managers never experience a day like that and that was a magical day which we'll never forget. Now our job is to go and reproduce that level of performance to try and get the points at the weekend."
He added: "I can't wait for the weekend. It's the last game of this recent run and now it's a huge effort we need from everybody to come through into the next international break in good spirits.
"If we can add points again, it starts creeping us up to where we need to be in the table and I'm confident we are getting there as a team."
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