Ashford United manager Craig Stone hopes Charlton Athletic friendly will help create links with the Addicks

Craig Stone hopes to build links with Charlton when Ashford host the Addicks in a pre-season fixture.

The match - one of nine friendlies announced by the Nuts & Bolts - takes place at Homelands on July 14.

Championship outfit Charlton have a terrific reputation for developing young players and a strong relationship between the clubs could be mutually beneficial.

“It’s a good game for the fans and it’s nice to see someone like Charlton come down and maybe have a chat with them and create links where you might be able to help out with loans and bits and pieces,” said Ashford boss Stone.

“I’d imagine it’ll be a Charlton XI, so 18s and 23s, and it’s so we can attract some of those lads on loan if we need to.

“They can see what sort of stadium we’ve got and we can create links with their coaching staff so that, hopefully, if we need some players, they’ll be prepared to send them to us because they see what a good set-up we have.”

Stone feels Ashford have a good blend of games to get ready for the Isthmian South East season.

The Charlton match is the stand-out fixture, while a well-thought-out programme includes away games against Maidstone and Dartford at the end of pre-season.

“We’ve tried to get a mixture of everything,” said Stone.

“We’ve got some local teams, which bring in a crowd and attract interest, teams around a similar type of level, we’ve got the Charlton game, and some tough ones at the end in Maidstone and Dartford.

“It’s important to get some decent fixtures for the players because pre-season can be a bit long and tedious sometimes, and we all know it’s a hard graft, so it’s nice to get some games in that they can look forward to.

“We’ve had a discussion as a management team and we’ve gone with nine fixtures