5 completed passes, 0 shots: The Charlton Athletic man who flattered to deceive v MK Dons | OneFootball

Charlton Athletic suffered a fourth straight defeat in a 2-0 loss at home to Milton Keynes Dons on Tuesday evening.

Tennai Watson and Kaine Kesler found the net from wing back roles to earn a comfortable three points for Liam Manning’s men.

A lot has been made of the injuries to Jayden Stockley, Chuks Aneke and Conor Washington in SE7, but one thing that has done, is present an opportunity for Jonathan Leko to cement a position in the side under Johnnie Jackson.

That opportunity has not yet been seized as the Birmingham City loanee’s disappointing season has continued.

The 22-year-old scored five and assisted four for Charlton in the first half of the 2019/20 campaign before he picked up a season ending injury.

Leko, who joined Birmingham from West Bromwich Albion in the summer of 2020, failed to score in 41 Blues appearances last season, and Addicks supporters are now starting to see why.

It was another frustrating outing on Tuesday and Leko was hooked in the 64th minute.

Charlton struggled to create anything going forward, but as an attacker who likes to receive the ball to feet and make things happen in possession, Leko has to take his share of the blame for that.

In the 66 minutes he spent on the pitch, Leko completed just five passes and did not manage a shot, painting the picture of a very quiet evening for the Dons’ backline.

He did manage one shot assist, according to Wyscout, but on the replay that did not look intentional as Mason Burstow and Leko were isolated for extended periods of the game.

Leko completed all three of his attempted dribbles in the game, which will act as a crumb of comfort to him, but against tough opposition it was a performance that demonstrated the drop-off in performance level the youngster has experienced since his previous loan to The Valley in 2019/20.

Quiz: Have any of these 22 ex-Charlton Athletic players ever played for a French club in their career?

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Jose Semedo

Entering the final year of his contract at St Andrew’s next season, Leko has a lot of work to do to force his way into Jackson’s summer transfer plans and needs to take his chances before the trio of senior frontmen return from injury.