Conor Gallagher has made quite a start to life at Charlton.
With four goals, one assist and numerous Man of the Match performances, the Chelsea loanee has quickly become a fan favourite.
After a tough test at Craven Cottage on Saturday, the young talent reflected on the team’s performance, his aims for the rest of the season and Lee Bowyer’s influence on his goalscoring form.
The England U20 international was impressed with the team’s spirit after a hard-fought draw at recently-relegated Fulham: “I don’t think they expected us to come out how we did, we were good off the ball and I felt that on the ball we were causing problems as well
“I think you could tell in the game we were prepared for them to be on the ball more and we just felt when we had the ball we had to make the most out of it."
Gallagher gave Charlton a 41st minute lead capping off a beautiful team move with a well struck right-footed finish.
Asked about his goal, Gallagher remembers Macauley Bonne’s instructions before he put The Addicks in front: “It was funny because a few minutes before that, Macauley said `when it comes in for me, don’t come in front of me, go in behind me’. So it came to him, I ran in behind him, he flicked it on and it came straight to me. I played it out wide, saw it crossed in and headed it down, and we ended up scoring."
The midfielder admits manager Lee Bowyer’s advice is influencing his goalscoring success: “He says to make it into the box every time and that’s how I’ve scored my goals this season. He’s great. I’ve only played under him for a couple of months now but I’ve loved it, he’s helped me individually and he’s helping the team a lot."
Gallagher also admits he wasn’t expecting the recent success the club has had in the Championship before he joined on loan from Chelsea: “When I first came here I thought I’m gonna try to do everything I can to help this club stay in the Championship, but seeing how the team are and how the players are, I think we could do a lot more. I think that the last three games we’ve come away with four points, I think we could’ve come away with more to be honest."
The 19-year-old's stock is quickly rising and he's seen the success of the likes of Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori have had under Frank Lampard in Chelsea's first team after successful loan spells in the Championship. He said: "They all played in the Championship and had a great season, and then managed to get into Chelsea’s first team and obviously that’s a dream for me
"Before I came the main thing I wanted to do was play as many games possible, that was the main target and I’ve played every game so far, so that’s good. I want to add goals as well this season, which I have done as well, and I just need to carry on now."
The Addicks’ next challenge takes place when they host last season’s Derby County after the international break, on October 19th.
Article by Jay Cohen