‘It’s been a long time’: Portsmouth defender Tom McIntyre opens up after stand-out Charlton Athletic debut
Tom McIntyre finally has a smile back on his face - thanks to Charlton.
The Pompey loanee has admitted he ‘felt a bit like a kid’ after being handed his first start by the League One side.
Now the 26-year-old is hopeful his impressive debut showing in the 2-1 win at Mansfield Town on Tuesday night can bring him further joy between now and the end of the season.
The centre-back was a surprise inclusion in Nathan Jones’ starting XI for the midweek trip to Field Mill, after star defender Lloyd Jones failed to travel with the Addicks after picking up a calf injury.
Up until then, McIntyre’s only appearances following his January transfer window deadline-day loan to The Valley had come from the bench. That limited the defender to just 43 minutes of first-team action spread across six different outings.
In his first competitive start since Pompey’s 2-0 defeat to Wycombe in the FA Cup in January, the former Scotland under-21 international caught the eye and was runner-up in Carlton’s man-of-the-match poll that was run via their account on social media platform X.
His performance helped the Addicks maintained their recent good form and pursuit of a return to the Championship - and that’s given the Fratton Park figure renewed optimism after a frustration 2024-25 season to date.
He told the South London Press: ‘It’s been a long time since I started a game so when I got the call-up it was something I was really looking forward to. When you come into a team that has been winning and doing so well, like the boys have, it is easy to fit in and do what I’m good at. I just tried to relish it.
‘When you haven’t played for a little while it takes you back to your younger days when I was first getting in the team at Reading. You get those nerves and a little bit of a buzz. You feel a bit like a kid again. I’d love to get a run in the side.
‘I’ve been watching from the bench as they win most weeks and it has been a pleasure. I’ve been chomping at the bit to get involved.’
Tom McIntyre bidding for second successive League One promotion
With the Mansfield v Charlton game finely poised at 1-1, Tyreece Campbell netted a 74th-minute winner for the Addicks to continue their current outstanding run in the third tier.
This has seen Jones & Co pick up maximum points in 12 of their past 16 games, which has propelled them from 12th to fourth in the standings. The south-Londoners sit six points behind second-placed Wrexham as the race for automatic promotion heats up with six games remaining.
The Pompey loanee will no doubt be looking to establish himself at centre-back for the crucial run-in and a potential play-off campaign as he bids for his second promotion in two seasons.
McIntyre played just 54 minutes in the Blues’ title-winning campaign after picking up a season-ending ankle injury on his debut against Northampton in March 2024.
The defender played 13 times for John Mousinho’s men earlier in the campaign following seven months out, but struggled with the step-up to Championship football, promoting a loan move away in the January window.