Speaking after Charlton’s 3-1 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, Lee Bowyer praised his players' effort under difficult circumstances, explained why his side may have conceded the third goal and opened up about the potential new ownership of the club.
On continuing to battle despite being short on numbers…
“The players, I can’t say how proud of them I am. They give absolutely everything. We’ve got a depleted squad with injuries, then this morning we wake up with illnesses and two lads had to go home this morning. Albie Morgan is then sick here before the game and at half time….
“There’s a bug going around, and they’re still going out and putting out performances.
“I just said to the players ‘I’m so proud of you’. How were we even in the game? How are we trying to get a point in the 75th minute and we’re still in the game? We were just as good as them, they were no better than us up until the penalty I thought. I thought that it was even, and we’ve got all these people out.
“We just need some bodies back, that’s all we need and the sooner they come back the better and we’ll start competing again and it will give everyone a lift, I have no doubt.”
On pushing for a late equaliser…
“We had to. We had to leave ourselves short at the back because there’s no point saying ‘we only lost 2-1 and we didn’t try to get the equaliser’ we had to push. That [the goal late on] was always going to be the danger, but I’d rather lose 3-1 than not be going for it. That’s just the way that I am.
“I can’t praise the players and the fans enough. Today, when they were singing in the second half, the atmosphere was unreal, the place was electric, and it was great to see. I love seeing it and I thought that the fans and the players were outstanding today.”
On impending takeover and Matt Southall…
“I’ve spoken to him. He’s said some nice things and some positive things, so if it does get over the line and they get the green light I can only see it being positive news for us.
“He wants to stabilise us, which is important. To stabilise us and make sure that we stay in the league. There would be some help in January. That’s what we need as a football club. I said that at the start of the season, and nothing has changed.
“We need to just become an established Championship side. Then, you can build on that but, at the moment, nothing has changed for us and we still have the lowest budget and it is difficult. But now hopefully this is going to be positive and things will change in the right way.
“The [fans] deserve it. They clearly love their club and rightly so. There’s been some good news that they’ve obviously wanted for a while now and they’ve finally got it.”