George Lapslie is looking to make the 2020/21 season his year and can’t wait to get started.
The 22-year-old netted against Southend United and has recorded two assists in an impressive pre-season but he explained he was pleased the competitive football has restarted.
The Addicks played AFC Wimbledon in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday and travel to The County Ground to take on Swindon Town in the Carabao Cup on Saturday. Lee Bowyer is using the games to prepare his team for the league campaign and Lapslie admitted he preferred them to pre-season friendlies.
He said: “I actually prefer it with more of a competitive edge to these games than the pre-season games. Sometimes in pre-season you don’t get the same intensity. Even the game on Tuesday night, we had a young team out, but the intensity was there and they brought the intensity and I thought we matched it for large parts of the game. It definitely is a bit different but it is something I enjoy more than a pre-season friendly.”
Charlton will face Swindon twice this year in League One and Lapslie said Saturday’s game will help the Addicks in their preparations.
“It’s a great marker for us,” he said, “they’ll be young boys playing for sure and it will be a good test for them to see what it is like at League One level. It will be good for the Manager as well to see how those boys play against a League One team. It’s definitely a game we are looking to get our teeth into and go for the win.”
The academy graduate has played at both right back and centre midfield in the Addicks pre-season games and explained with a smile that he will play wherever Lee Bowyer needs to him.
Lapslie has played 49 times for the first team and said he wants to take the next step this season: “There is definitely a pressure to step up and really make this year my year and I’m sure a lot of the boys are feeling the same. We’re seeing an opportunity for ourselves to go and grab it and it is down to us. None of that pressure comes from the Manager, you get out of it what you put into it yourself.”
With the club’s league campaign starting next week, Lapslie is clear the Addicks will go into every game hunting for three points. He said: “The pressure is on us to go and win games in this league. I think we wouldn’t have gone into any game last year going for a draw, so the onus for us still is the same, with maybe a bit more pressure to go and get the win. We’ll go to win every game.”