Tyreece Campbell impressed in his full league debut on Saturday against Shrewsbury Town and Ben Garner has been pleased with what he has seen so far from the Addicks’ academy.
Charlton have used 16 academy graduates in men’s first-team football this season.
Garner said: “There is talent in the U21s and U18s. I managed to watch the last 20 minutes or so of the U18s last weekend when we trained on the Saturday ahead of Portsmouth. I was really impressed by one or two in there.
“There is a good pipeline, there is talent here, we need to make sure we’re giving those players opportunities and we’re building that link between the academy and the first team all the time. I think we have to be really appreciative of what a fantastic academy we’ve got. I’ve gone on record of saying that it was a big attraction for me in wanting to take the job here at Charlton.”
One of the players to graduate from the academy this year has been Miles Leaburn, who scored five goals to start the season before picking up an ankle injury in the Addicks’ 4-2 win at home to Exeter City.
Garner updated on the striker in his pre-MK Dons press conference: “Miles saw the specialist last week and the good news is that he doesn’t need surgery on it, which is great, so we can rehab it now. It is just a matter of time now and waiting, doing as much as we can with him, him working as hard as he can, being positive and coming back in a better place than when he picked up the injury.
“DJ [Diallang Jaiyesimi] and Miles are doing great. They’ve got a fair bit to go in terms of time. They are being very diligent in what they are doing and what the team are asking them to do, they are doing. We’ve just got to be patient with them, push them as hard they can but unfortunately time is the thing we’ve got to adhere to and wait for.
Support the Addicks, click here to get your ticket to Tuesday's game against MK Dons at The Valley.
Campbell’s debut on Saturday, came with Corey Blackett-Taylor missing the game through injury.
Garner said: “Corey, I’m going to go and speak with the medical staff shortly and assess where we are with Corey and make a decision on that.
“From Saturday, I believe, everyone is ok. We’ll do some monitoring this morning, before we finalise the team for Tuesday night. There are no fresh injuries that I am aware of.”
Support the Addicks, click here to get your ticket to Tuesday's game against MK Dons at The Valley.
Charlton fans can support the academy by signing up to the Valley Gold scheme. Valley Gold enables fans to support the club's academy in unearthing the talents of tomorrow, as well as giving them the chance to win cash prizes.
Click here for more information on how you can become a Valley Gold member.
