The Addicks play the first home league game of the Thomas Sandgaard era at The Valley on Saturday against visitors Sunderland and Lee Bowyer is looking forward to the challenge.
The Charlton Manager revealed new signing Marcus Maddison will be a part of the squad and said Chuks Aneke could also be involved following his return to training after missing time with coronavirus.
Speaking at his pre-game press conference he said: “Sunderland are a good side. They’re a very big club. This is the first time that we’re playing them since the play-off final [in 2019].
“They’ve got good experienced players. They’re a physical side that will cause us problems but as long as we stand up and be men and compete well then, we’ll cause them problems as well. I think that it will be quite an even game so I’m looking forward to it and I think the players know how to play and what we have to do to break them down. If we do those things then we’ve got a chance of winning it.”
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Charlton completed the signing of Maddison on Thursday and Bowyer explained that he’s excited to work with the winger.
He said: “The one thing that you can never take away from the lad is his assists and his double figure goals in a season. That’s a good ratio and a good stat to have and it’s something that we couldn’t ignore. He adds something to our squad that we didn’t have. And if you look at what he does in the videos, the players miss just as many as they score from his passing so he should have a lot more assists. But 25 assists alone is a good stat. That’s why we brought him in: because he has quality in the final third.”
The Charlton boss is looking to add to his squad before the window closes in mid-October and said any players they bring in will have to align with the club’s transfer strategy.
He explained: “We have to try and put something together. It’s all about how we can get out of this division. There’s got to be a strategy behind it. Whatever players we bring in now is to help to get us to that next point. The type of quality player, like the ones that we’ve brought in on loan who were at a certain level.
“We want to bring in a certain level of player. There’s no point signing people that aren’t going to improve us. Whether they be a defender, midfielder or a striker they have to make us better otherwise it’s just wasting money and that’s something me and Steve Gallen don’t want to do. We haven’t done it before and we’re not going to start doing it now.”
Watch Bowyer's full press conference on Valley Pass. Click here to purchase your live stream of the game.