Charlton Manager Lee Bowyer is hoping Patrick Bauer will get a positive reception from The Valley faithful ahead of Sunday's Sky Bet Championship game against Preston North End.
The German defender joined the Lilywhites in the summer after his contract with the Addicks expired.
During four seasons with Charlton. Bauer played 135 games, scoring nine times, with no goal more important than his stoppage-time winner against Sunderland in the Sky Bet League One play-off final in May which propelled the Addicks back to the Championship.
Bowyer said: "I'm looking forward to seeing Pat. I've heard he is doing really up there and it doesn't surprise me at all because he is a very good player.
"We would have loved to have kept Pat and he knows that and he wanted to stay. But he had an option to go somewhere else and it was an offer that we couldn't compete with. That's football.
"Pat loved his time here, he didn't want to leave and he was a massive part of why we got promotion last year, obviously scoring the winner at Wembley.
"I hope that he gets the reception that he deserves because every time he played for me he gave 100 percent. He's a very good lad."
Bauer told the Lancashire Evening Press: “I spent four good years at Charlton and last year we got promotion. I scored the winning goal at Wembley, which was good, and I still have a lot of friends at Charlton.
“It was a big decision to move away, not an easy one at all.
The 27-year-old also complimented his former team: “Before the start of the season maybe people were writing them off because they had just come up.
“But their recruitment has been spot-on and they have signed some really good players. I know from my time that the togetherness is very good, so for me it is not a surprise to see Charlton doing well.
“I think the thing which is similar between Alex Neil and Lee Bowyer, is the passion they have. They are passionate managers but they have different philosophies.”