Charlton boss Nathan Jones has said fullback Kayne Ramsay 'has to learn' after receiving a second yellow card against Millwall, resulting in the south London derby ending as a draw.
Ramsay clumsily tackled Raees Bangura-Williams with 15 minutes to go as Charlton neared a first win over the Lions in almost 30 years, which Jones described as a moment of madness.
The visitors eventually equalised with two minutes to go, frustrating the Addicks, who had controlled the majority of the game and were deserving of all three points.
It means Charlton now have five points from their first five fixtures, a rather underwhelming figure based on the performances.
Following the draw, Jones was frustrated with the red card and believed his side was more than capable of winning the game without being reduced to ten men.
"I'm proud of the performance up to 74 minutes," said the Charlton boss. "It took a red card to draw today.
“I’m not being disrespectful to anyone but I didn’t see us conceding today. We scored the goal, we wanted to get the next one which we couldn’t do, but it felt like something like a set play or a moment of madness and we got one," added Jones.
Kayne Ramsay's dismissal piled pressure on the Addicks in a game in which they had otherwise controlled for the majority, which frustrated the Welsh head coach. Jones has insisted that the mistake will be a moment to learn for the 24-year-old and his team.
“When you’re on a booking, and he’d done it [made a challenge] before, and then to lunge in, you know you’re risking something," said Jones.
“You have to be clever. When you’re on a booking you can’t do that and it’s a learning curve. He’s a young boy, so much ability, he’s been outstanding for us but that’s a learning curve because that was categorically a turning point in the game.
“We had moments, we got in so many times in the first half but without having any end product. If we did that, then we’re ahead comfortably at half time, but we didn’t show those moments of quality which we need to, but we got the goal eventually.
“They needed something to turn for them and I felt that we gifted them that.”
Though frustrated with the error, Jones was quick to defend Ramsay's contribution to the club since joining last year, adding, “My opinion won’t change on Kayne. I’m not going to suddenly hang him out to dry. Kayne is a wonderful player in terms of he has a certain level of ability.
"What he needs to do is bring it all together, he needs to concentrate. He gets away with a lot because he’s quick, he’s strong, he’s powerful, but the championship has quick and strong and powerful people."
Despite feeling downbeat about the result, the Charlton boss drew the positives from a mostly encouraging performance from his Championship newcomers, but still believes there is plenty of room for improvement.
“This is the Championship. You don’t get gifted anything, it’s a relentless, wonderful league and you have to earn it. You have to have know-how and knowledge, and in terms of that we’re evolving.
“The last two home games here we should have six points but we only take one, and that’s a learning curve. In the [first] home game we weren’t clinical enough, we got beaten by a worldie strike, and then today is a moment of madness," Jones added.
“We have to step up to the level, we have to get to the level, we have to demonstrate more composure, more quality to go away from teams and we’ll become the team we are.
“At no point we are struggling. We are going after everyone, we are aggressive, we are front footed, we are taking games to people. We are a good Championship side."
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