Charlton skipper Johnnie Jackson will travel to Brighton with squad and could feature, says Karel Fraeye

The Addicks’ skipper had to be taken off early in the 3-0 defeat to Ipswich last week with a suspected hamstring tear.

However, Jackson’s injury is not as severe as was first feared and the midfielder is even in contention of starting against league leaders Brighton.

Charlton will make assessments ahead of the game but even if he is ruled out, Jackson will still travel to the Amex Stadium as support to the club’s inexperienced squad.

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Caretaker boss Fraeye said: “Johnnie is a very experienced player so he knew if he continued [against Ipswich] he would get a big injury.

“We are accessing him and we will access him for the weekend. We will see on Saturday what decision we will make.

“He came off very early, if it was later on in the game it would have been a problem.”

When pressed whether Jackson could make a surprising start, Fraeye added: “He’s got a chance, absolutely.

“With Jackson off or on the pitch he’s an important voice because of his experience.

“We have a young team – he will be travelling and around the team even if he doesn’t play. Other players have to step up and get bigger voices on the pitch.

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“It’s credit to him, he’s the heart of the team and he’s so important. But we managed well when he wasn’t on the pitch.”

During Charlton’s 3-0 defeat to Ipswich last week, Sky Sports pundit Ian Holloway suggested that the hosts lacked leadership once Jackson was brought off.

However, interim boss Fraeye insisted that Jackson is not the only leader in the Charlton dressing room.

“We have some leaders,” he added. “Stephen Henderson is a big character, along with Alou Diaara. Jordan Cousins, even though he’s young, is a big character and these guys need to step up.”

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