Portsmouth’s promotion rivals suffer huge injury blow as new Charlton boss reveals contract length

Portsmouth’s promotion push continues with an away trip up north to face the league’s bottom club Carlisle United.

The Cumbrians have struggled to adapt to life in the third-tier this season and find themselves 11 points adrift of safety with just 16 games to go. Pompey enter the clash as huge favourites to maintain their place at the top of the table. John Mousinho’s side were made to wait until the final moments for the 1-0 victory in the reverse fixture with a Conor Shaughnessy header deciding the clash in added time.

The Portsmouth faithful will be hoping to see their side reach the Championship for the first time in over a decade. Mousinho’s side know that they will need to be at their best if they are to see off competition from the likes of Bolton, Derby, Barnsley and Peterborough United.

Ahead of this weekend’s action we have rounded up all of the main headlines at the top and bottom of the League One Table.

Derby County hit with huge injury blow as loan signing ruled out until the end of the season

After a slow start to the campaign, Paul Warne’s Derby have emerged as one of the standout teams in the division and they are expected to push Portsmouth all the way in the race to secure Championship football. Arsenal loanee Tyreece John-Jules has largely been on the fringes of the team throughout this period - contributing just one goal in 12 league appearances.

The 22-year-old’s limited first team action was caused by leg injury that he sustained during the first half of the season. He returned to fitness in late November and proved his worth to earn an extension on his loan deal until the end of the season.

Warne previously described John-Jules as the player Derby had been missing due to his ‘deadly finishing’ and excellent hold up play.  However, just weeks after extending his loan deal it now appears that John-Jules injury-hit campaign has come to an end and he has been ruled out for the remainder of the campaign with a hamstring problem.

Warne told BBC Radio Derby: “I’m really sad for the kid because he was getting himself into a really good place, where he was starting to get some really good minutes.”

Charlton boss Nathan Jones sets out aspirations as he reveals contract length

League One strugglers Charlton Athletic sent out a statement of intent when they confirmed the appointment of former Southampton and Luton Town boss Nathan Jones. Jones has vast experience of success in the Football League and played a crucial role in Luton’s rise up the football pyramid during his two stints at Kenilworth Road.

The Welshman claimed he would have the ‘final say’ on recruitment in future transfer windows and described Charlton as a ‘really, really good football club.” He also explained that his contract runs until the summer of 2028 and claimed he wanted to help establish Charlton as a big football club within that time frame.

Jones told BBC Sport: “Coming here I feel that it’s a really, really good football club. It’s in a position it doesn’t want to be in but there’s a real scope to build and a capacity to be able to that. I’m not quite starting in the position I did at Luton, we’re in a league above and there’s infrastructure far better than when I first went to Luton.”

Jones faces fellow strugglers Reading in a crucial first game in charge. The Addicks are due to host Pompey later in the month on Saturday 24 February.