Ben Garner wants to see his side beat Walsall on Tuesday to progress to the Third Round of the Carabao Cup.
The Addicks travel to the Poundland Bescott Stadium for the Carabao Cup Second Round clash and Garner explained that while he will rotate his squad, his focus is on winning the tie.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Monday morning, the Charlton Manager said: “It should be a good game Tuesday. Walsall have had a decent start themselves and it’s a game we’re looking forward to. We’re going to go there and play well and get in the draw for the next round and see where we go from there.
"We want to rotate and give opportunities to players, that will be the case for several players to come in and take their opportunity tomorrow.
“We want to be competitive in all the competitions we play and do as well as we can. We have a couple more injuries than we’d like, but I know Walsall have got a few themselves. There are a lot of teams in this position, I think that is because of the amount of games so early in the season. We’ve got to get through it and come through this period stronger and hopefully we can do that.
“Whoever looks at the fixtures at the start of the season, I’m not sure nine game in the first 30 days was the best way to go. We’ve got to get on with it. We’ve got Walsall on Tuesday night, we’ve got to get a competitive team onto the pitch and we’re obviously looking to win that game.”
Garner explained Corey Blackett-Taylor, who came off injured during Saturday’s game against Cambridge United, is set to have a scan today. He said: “Obviously we’ve got our fingers crossed and we’re hoping for good news on that but we’ll know more later today.”
He added that Chuks Aneke has had a calf injury in a slightly different place to the one that has kept him out so far this season. He said he expects the striker to miss weeks rather than months and added: “First and foremost, our first port of call with Chuks is a bit of support for him because he is devastated by it. I know he has had a number of injuries throughout his career and that is tough for anyone. I think we need to make sure he is in a good place from a mental health point of view and psychologically in a good place and then we can rehab him from a physical point of view and hopefully get him playing back as quick as we can.”
The club are awaiting a cast for Conor McGrandles which will likely speed up his return to action, with Garner hoping to see him back in the next fortnight.
