Charlton bounced back from their FA Cup exit on Saturday by returning to winning ways against Leyton Orient in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday night.

Lee Bowyer's men were dumped out in the first-round by Plymouth Argyle last time out, but avoided suffering consecutive defeats with a comfortable success over Orient, although it wasn't enough for the Addicks to progress.

But that won't bother Bowyer too much after recently describing the competition as 'pathetic'.

However, there were some positives for the Charlton boss, who saw captain Jason Pearce make his first appearance of the campaign following a calf injury - playing the opening 45 minutes at The Valley.

But despite making his first appearance since the final day Championship defeat at Leeds United, Bowyer admitted that Pearce isn't unlikely to be fit enough to face Gillingham when Charlton return to action on Saturday week.

And there was more good news for Bowyer, who confirmed another of his defender's is working their way back to fitness.

"That will be difficult to ask him to do that but we will be training Saturday, Bowyer told South London Press. "Deji [Oshilaja] is back training now as well. If we can get some minutes into them boys for an hour or 45 minutes, that will be the plan. Gillingham will come too quickly for Pearcey but the most important thing is he got 45 minutes into him today and came through it okay which is important."

 

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The Verdict

This is excellent news for Charlton.

Whilst the Addicks are on a six-match winning streak in League One, conceding just twice in the process, another defensive injury could real cause problems for Bowyer - so having two key first-team members back will help massively.

The return Deji Oshilaja is important, but Bowyer having his captain Pearce back in the fold will give the entire squad a boost heading into a busy schedule.