Charlton Athletic manager Lee Bowyer has said he's 'hopeful' of keeping Lyle Taylor this transfer window, amid rumours linking him with a move away from The Valley.

The Montserrat forward had propelled Charlton to a fine start to Championship life. They were occupying a top-six spot after the first bout of fixtures, but the 29-year-old picked up an injury whilst on international duty, and was sidelined for the next three months.

With that, Charlton's form went right down the pan. Today they find themselves in 21st-place of the Championship table, with just four points separating them from Wigan in 22nd.

Speaking to TalkSport's Jim White last night, Bowyer discussed his hopes for the rest of the transfer window:

"We're hopeful that we can bring a few bodies through the door. I think it's obvious to see that we're a couple of bodies down from when the window opened and obviously a big thing for me is to keep hold of Lyle Taylor."

Charlton have suffered terribly with injuries this season. At one point they had 11 first-team players sidelined and were unable to fulfil their seven-man bench for a number of Championship fixtures.

But Bowyer's main task this month is to keep hold of their star-man Taylor. He added:

"When you have good player then other teams are going to look at them. We had to fight off Brentford in the summer so I have no doubt that it'll be the same situation come the last couple of days in this window."

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Several Championship clubs have shown an interest in Taylor this month, including Leeds United and Bristol City, and more recently Brentford.

Taylor's scored twice since returning from injury last month, taking his Championship tally to seven from 14 games. He's also missed a few games this month through injury, but came off the bench in Charlton's 0-0 draw with Fulham last time out.

The verdict

Taylor is a fine striker and his services would be welcomed at any club in the Championship. He's struggled with injury but has shown his abilities whenever he's played, and Charlton fans probably couldn't imagine life without him.

Bowyer will be stressing about Taylor over the next couple of days. The transfer window slams shut at 11pm this Friday and if Taylor remains an Addick come the weekend, both Bowyer and Charlton fans will be delighted.