Charlton Athletic’s Lyle Taylor got off to a flying start to life in the Championship, but the striker has missed the last five games through injury. What will his thoughts be ahead of his prospective return in November?
Lyle Taylor was League One’s joint-second top-scorer last season with 21 goals, and a driving force behind Charlton’s third-place finish and eventual promotion to the Championship.
He’s 30 goals for the club from 50 games, and is already the club’s sixth highest-scorer of all time - he only joined the club in 2018 from AFC Wimbledon.
Many expected him to take some time in adapting to the Championship but he took none at all. Taylor scored in Charlton’s first four matches of the season, as the club got off to an unexpectedly strong start and found themselves in the play-offs after six games.
But during the September international break, Taylor picked up a knee injury. The extent of his injury was not known until he returned to the UK, where he was ruled out until November.
In the aftermath of Taylor’s injury, Charlton lost back-to-back games in the Championship, winning just one of their last five. It’s thrown Lee Bowyer’s side out of the top six, and shows how important Taylor is to that side.
Taylor will have been devastated to find out how long he’ll be spending in the stands. He’ll be happy though that in his opening six games he managed to score five, proving to his team and gaffer that he’s more than capable at this level.
There's added pressure on him for his return to the side, given that they've slowed down in his absence. That, however, will also give Taylor confidence in seeing how valuable an asset he is to that side, and he'll be ready to prove himself when he eventually rejoins the fray.
His return will be a huge boost for Charlton who simply aren’t as good a side without Taylor in it. Bowyer will have to ensure that the 29-year-old's return to the first-team isn't rushed as to not cause further injury. But the pressure will soon be on Taylor again, and his manager will be hoping that his main man can come back stronger and fire his side back into the top-six.
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