It is fair to say that Lyle Taylor has been itching to return to the Addicks and, as Lee Bowyer revealed this week, he may be involved in Saturday's visit to Middlesbrough.
After a three-month absence from action, the striker opened up on how he dealt with his injury and his potential return to action this weekend.
Taylor suffered a knee-injury in September, which has kept him out since the clash with Reading on the sixth gameweek of Championship action and he revealed just how hard it has been to watch his teammates from the sidelines: “It’s been hell, that’s why I missed so many games, especially more recently. I don’t think I saw a game in about a month because I just couldn’t watch them. Even the games on Sky, I couldn’t sit at home and watch them.
“I don’t think there’s anything more frustrating than being so close yet so far away which is what I’ve been now for six or seven weeks. I’ve not watched many games and I just want to play, that’s it."
The striker, who already bagged five goals and an assist in his six starts this season, seems confident in his ability to contribute to The Addicks' heavy upcoming schedule: “I feel good. I’ve been running now for seven weeks, the problem that we had was the ball. We look like we’re finally over that hurdle, training today for the first time.
“There was no point in me coming back six weeks in, if I couldn’t play football without pain. I’m happy with the knee, the knee’s strong and I’m ready to go. It is a long journey up to Middlesbrough so it’s probably not the one you want to come back for but I’m glad I’m back.
“I know I won’t be starting on the weekend, there is no way, that’d be way too much to ask but there are a lot of games coming up over the next few weeks so we’ll see how many minutes I play. Obviously it’s not down to me, it’s down to the manager, and I’m ready to be called on if he asks me to.”
Taylor will be looking for his first goal as soon as he gets on the pitch again, and affirmed just how important it would be for his return to form: “The first one back is the big one, the first goal is the important one and then you try and kick on from there."
Article by Jay Cohen
