Lawrie Wilson has spoken out on his time with Charlton Athletic, which came to an end back in 2015 after three years with the club. 

The full-back arrived at The Valley for his second spell with the club, after previously representing the Addicks as a youngster in their academy team.

He signed for Charlton in the summer of 2012, after a successful spell with Stevenage, and will have been keen to make a positive impact relatively quickly.

Wilson signed for a Charlton side that will have been full of confidence as well, with the club winning promotion from League One in the previous season.

They certainly surprised a number of teams in the Championship in Wilson's first season with the club, as they finished ninth in the second-tier standings.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World's Jacob Potter, Wilson issued a glimpse of what it was like to play for the Addicks in his first season with the club, and how close his Charlton team-mates were both on and off-the-pitch.

"Some teams that you go into and they're very mixed and their own little groups and it's hard to get into, like they may have had a tough season in the year before. I had previously been in the same league with Charlton when they won the league that season, so the team that went up, they stayed the same and it was such a close-knit team, that when I came in, I was welcomed with open arms straight away, so I felt at home.

"Obviously I had been there before as well so I knew a lot of the staff, so it felt like home when I came back in. I was very lucky in that sense that the team had gelled and they had a position for me. When I actually came in, I was a second cover for Chris Solley at the time, but when Chris and I started playing together at right-wing and right-back, the connection we had was great. Towards the end of the season, we were just having fun and a good time as mates.

"That's the key thing with that Charlton team in my first season, we were all really good friends, and it's not often you can say that in a football team. It wasn't even just the boys, it was our partners as well. We used to go on trips together on holidays, it was a really close-knit thing. Everyone was on the same page whilst at other clubs where it's away from everything. That translated onto the pitch with Charlton, so we were just having a good time and we were so close together, it was just ticking off the wins.

"When it started getting close, and I didn't even really know how close it was. I was thinking 'crikey I didn't realise how close we were to winning promotion into the Premier League'. You don't realise it at the time!"

Charlton had their fair share of off-the-field problems whilst Wilson was with the club, with Roland Duchâtelet taking over the club back in January 2014.

He relieved Chris Powell of his duties in the dugout just two months after taking over the London-based side, with the unknown Jose Riga being appointed as his replacement.

Wilson admitted that the off-the-field uncertainties did have an impact on the performances on the pitch, whilst also hinting that Duchâtelet had an impact on some of the team selections during his time with the club.

"I would love to say no it doesn't and that footballers just turn up and play football and it doesn't matter what goes on elsewhere. When actually, psychologically, it probably does have an impact.

"As much as you want to say to yourself or to the team let's not let it affect us, let's just carry on as normal. It does have an affect though because people love to have calm and know what's going on and be secure, and you never know who's going to turn up, whether that be a player turning up and start training with you, and not even the manager knew they'd turn up."

"You're kind of backed up a little bit and thinking 'hang on a second, what's going on here?' Certain things that you're being told by the management team that you can't play on Saturday because they've been told by the owners that this person has to play and this person has to play.

"Suddenly you're there thinking 'hang on a second, I've trained really hard and playing really well at the moment, but I can't play because a person that hasn't even watched any games or training is picking the team? So that's where it becomes disappointing and which sometimes becomes challenging on the pitch."

Charlton have struggled for a positive run of results in League One in recent weeks in League One, and are currently sat 12th in the third-tier standings heading into their final 15 matches of this year's campaign.

Wilson issued his thoughts on their challenge for promotion back into the Championship this term, and praised both Lee Bowyer and Johnnie Jackson for their time with the club so far, and highlighted the off-the-field uncertainties that they've had to deal with in recent months.

"If they got to the Championship this season, I think Lee Bowyer and Johnnie Jackson deserve medals.

"For what they've had to endure, to get that opportunity, I think it's this season, for everything that's gone on prior for new owners to have taken over and have structure to it now, I think they'd do well to just see this season out and do as well as they could, and then next season have a summer where they can recruit players they want and want to build a team around.

"Then have next season as the real chance of winning promotion and that's how I would look at things."

Charlton are set to return to action on Tuesday evening, when they take on relegation-threatened Wigan Athletic, in a match they'll be hoping to pick up three important points from to keep the pressure on their play-off chasing rivals in League One.