Nathan Jones' fresh claim on Charlton Athletic pair may concern Walsall and Colchester United | OneFootball

The young strikers have both impressed on loan in League Two so far this season.

Charlton Athletic strikers Micah Mbick and Daniel Kanu have both impressed in League Two so far this season during their respective loan spells at Colchester United and Walsall.

Mbick has scored seven goals in all competitions for Colchester since joining Danny Cowley's side in September, with his performances earning him a call-up to the England U20 squad during the November international break.

Meanwhile, Kanu has scored eight goals in all competitions for Walsall following his temporary switch to the Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium in August, and his goals have fired the Saddlers to the top of the League Two table as things stand.

Colchester and Walsall will no doubt be desperate to keep hold of the strikers for the remainder of the season as they both chase promotion to League One, but recent comments from Nathan Jones suggest that is not guaranteed to be the case.

Miles Leaburn, Tanto Olaofe and Charlie Kelman have only scored one goal each for the Addicks so far this season, while the latter is currently sidelined with an injury alongside last season's top scorer Matty Godden, so it would be no surprise if Jones decided to recall at least one of his in-form youngsters in January.

Nathan Jones' comments may concern Colchester and Walsall

Nathan Jones has discussed the current situation regarding Mbick and Kanu, as per South London Sport: Charlton Athletic edition, and his comments may cause concern for Danny Cowley and Mat Sadler.

"They are our players and we will consider all opportunities," Jones said.

"If the need arose then of course we would [recall them] - they are our players and players we trust.

“We didn’t loan them out because we didn’t want them. We loaned them out because we felt it would be more beneficial for their career. But if their career takes them into our first-team then that is fine.

“Dan Kanu has already scored at League One level, so we didn’t let Dan go to Walsall to see if he can score at League Two level - we already know he can do it above that level. We wanted him to have game time and a loan at the right place. Walsall has been good for him.

“In the case of Mbick, that’s the first loan he has had. He is a little more of an unknown, but he has taken to it like a duck to water. He’s done fantastically well and he’s at a club where he gets well-coached.

“They are both in a better position in January to come and play for us. We believe they could both play for us.

“With us having Godden, Kelman, Leaburn and Tanto - we felt the game time would be limited. Now it might be that, one, they’ve done well enough to come back and influence us and, two, we might need them in the situation we’re in.”

League Two duo will hope to keep hold of on-loan Charlton strikers

Colchester and Walsall will certainly not want to see their on-loan strikers return to The Valley in January, with the Saddlers potentially set to lose a key attacker midway through the campaign for a second season running after Nathan Lowe was recalled by Stoke City earlier this year.

One thing that will give the League Two duo encouragement is the fact both players featured for Charlton in the EFL Cup earlier this season, meaning they cannot represent another domestic club during the 2025/26 campaign.

That means the Addicks will only recall them if they are needed to play in the Championship, rather than to give them a different loan experience at a League One club, and it also means their only option would be to return to Colchester or Walsall if they were sent back out again at the end of January.