Charlton Athletic boss Nathan Jones says his side need to make sure their FA Cup third round tie against Chelsea does not turn into an “autograph session” when they face the Blues for the first time since 2007.
The Addicks host Chelsea at The Valley on Saturday (20:00 GMT) in Liam Rosenior’s first game in charge since taking over as head coach at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have won just two of their past 11 games in all competitions, while Charlton have not won in four.
The Addicks have not advanced beyond the third round the of the cup since 2013-14, when they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Sheffield United.
“You start at the third round [when you’re in the Championship] and you’ve got that opportunity of getting a big one, which is always nice because it’s a test, it’s not because we want to high-five Liam Delap or anyone,” Jones told BBC Radio London.
“What we have to make sure is that it doesn’t become just an autograph session. It becomes a proper game where we can test ourselves, test our structure, test what we do.”
Rosenior was named Chelsea boss on Tuesday and was in the stand alongside the club’s co-owner Behdad Eghbali at Craven Cottage to watch his new side’s 2-1 defeat by Fulham on Wednesday, with Calum McFarlane taking charge of the team.
Jones, who worked as a coach at Brighton & Hove Albion while Rosenior was at the south coast club as a player, described the new Chelsea boss as confident, eloquent and a thoughtful leader.
“I saw him last night, Liam, actually, we had a quick brief chat and I have no idea what impact he’s going to have mentally or physically on them,” said Jones.
“Tactically and technically they’ll be similar because that’s one of the main reasons why I think he’s been brought in, there’s an alignment with what they’ve done and it’s a good thing.
“But can they run any harder? I don’t know. Can we run any harder? Well, we’ll see.”
Chelsea are eight-time winners of the FA Cup but have been beaten finalists three times since last lifting the trophy in 2018.
Their last appearance in the final at Wembley was under Thomas Tuchel in 2021-22, when they were beaten by Liverpool on penalties after the match ended 0-0.
“These are the games that you want to be involved in,” Jones said.
“I strove all my life to appear on a Premier League team sheet in one way or another, and that’s what we want. That’s got to be the goal. That’s the pinnacle.
“It’s the best league in the world. So to come up against a wonderful team is what you want to do. You want to test yourself against good managers, against good structures, against good players.”
