Nathan Jones sends very honest apology to Charlton Athletic supporters | OneFootball

The Addicks' boss saw his side slip to a 3-2 defeat at Bristol Rovers last night

Charlton Athletic boss Nathan Jones has offered his apologies to Addicks' supporters after they slipped to a 3-2 defeat against Bristol Rovers on Tuesday night.

Charlton headed into the game at the Memorial Stadium with just one win from their last five League One outings, and things did not get any better against the Gas as they went behind inside half-an-hour to Scott Sinclair's second goal in as many games.

There was then little improvement in the second period from the Addicks, and two strikes inside ten minutes from Jamie Lindsay and James Wilson saw Rovers extend their lead to 3-0 with 20 minutes to go, with Jones' side needing to stage an almighty comeback to take anything from the game.

They certainly came close, as Alex Mitchell reduced the deficit in the 79th minute, and substitute Matty Godden netted a second in added time, but it was ultimately not enough as they fell to a third successive defeat.

Nathan Jones' honest apology after Bristol Rovers loss

The Addicks now sit 13th in League One after nine games, and have been too inconsistent so far to mount a real challenge on the play-off places, but must find their form again soon with a home clash against league-leaders Birmingham City up next.

Boss Jones was understandably left disappointed after the Rovers game as he went over and apologised to the travelling fans, and he was firm in his belief that it was him that should be held accountable for the loss, not his players.

“I’ll take full responsibility for this result. I got the team wrong, tactically I didn’t get it right today. I picked a team that didn’t perform but I picked that team, so I’ll take full responsibility for that today," he told Addicks TV post-match.

"That’s what I went and said to the fans [after the game] – we let them down tonight, I let them down tonight. I haven’t done this before. I take full responsibility for that.

"It was a poor performance, we didn’t win battles, they were more front, footed than us but I’ll take full responsibility.

“For big parts of games we’re fine, but there are times where teams are getting near our box they are scoring. Everyone scores from outside the box against us, we’re not learning.

"That’s the thing I can only do so much with, but I got the team selection wrong today.”

Charlton need to put things right as soon as possible

The third-tier can be an unforgiving league at the best of times, and Charlton will be well aware of that, given this is their eighth season in League One in the last nine years.

Despite that, things did look to be getting better under Jones after his appointment in February as the Addicks were defeated in just two of their final 16 games of last season, and they looked to have translated that form into this campaign as they lost just one league game in their first six, but this recent run has brought them crashing back down to earth with aplomb.

It is the first real blip that they have suffered under Jones, but while Bristol Rovers should have a been a winnable game with the Gas near the bottom of the table, those defeats against Blackpool and Stevenage were not particularly out of the ordinary, given both clubs are currently sitting above Jones' side in the table as it stands.

What Charlton must not do is allow their bad form to fester and get worse in the next few weeks, but that will be easier said than done given their upcoming run of games includes clashes against promotion-chasing sides Birmingham, Stockport County, Barnsley and Wrexham.