Charlton boss Lee Bowyer has entered his team’s final week of training with real optimism as he looks forward to watching his team return to action on Saturday.
The Addicks travel to the KCOM Stadium for an important game against relegation rivals Hull City.
Bowyer said: “I’m feeling good, very optimistic, very happy to get going again. I’m really looking forward to it. Training has gone well, everything has gone to plan.
“We’re using the week for preparation, we’re tidying up on a few things. In the training games that we’ve played there has been some positives and some negatives, which is expected. It has been a bit of a rush to try and get up to match speed. Trying to cram everything into a three-week period is tough but we’re in a good place taking into account we’ve only been in for three weeks, so I’m delighted. I’m definitely looking forward to getting back and competing for the three points each week.”
Bowyer did admit it had been a struggle to study his opposition, with the nature of the extended break meaning his side are likely to face a very different Hull City to the one that they would have faced three months ago on March 14th.
He said: “It’s difficult because they might change things, it could be the same for every team now. I was watching them before the Covid situation but they are going to have a completely different side out to what they had then. The whole of their back four was injured, I’m guessing that won’t be the case now as it has been so long, so it is difficult to watch that team as things have changed. If you go beyond that, then before January, then they had players that can’t play now – their two wingers, arguably their best two players who got sold in January. If you look beyond that, from when we played them at home, I watched that game but they had completely different players playing to the side that may play at the weekend. You get a gist of the way they play and movements and that’s what I’ve being trying to focus on.”
Bowyer said he is hoping to have his squad close to full strength for Saturday’s game.
“It’s good,” he explained of his sides’ fitness.
“Taking into account how hard we’ve had to push them in such a short space of time. We have got a couple of niggled injuries but I’m guessing every team up and down the country have got that. When you look at the Bundesliga when they have gone back playing, it is natural people will get injured because of the length of time that we have got to get them match fit is just not possible. So we’ve got a couple of niggles but hopefully they won’t be out for too long. We might be going into Hull with a full strength squad, so that’s good.”
