Marcus Maddison has had a bit of a stop start opening to his Charlton campaign as he has battled to get to match-fitness and against ankle issues.
Here, we take a look at his first month or so at The Valley as the Addicks hope to see more of him in the coming weeks…
How's it gone so far?
Not how he would have wanted in all honestly, not that it is particularly his fault.
He needed to work up match fitness after he joined Charlton as he’d been turning out for a non-league side in Peterborough to keep himself ticking over, but injuries have hampered that progress.
We’ve seen little cameos but an ankle injury coming up not once but twice in recent weeks has seen him in and out of the squad. The hope will be, of course, that he can eventually shrug the issue off and get himself involved in a Charlton side that is going nicely right now.
What issues does he face?
The obvious issue is the ankle problem he is currently suffering and after that heals properly he still needs to build match fitness.
That’s issue number one and then after that he needs to get himself into the side and playing regularly, which will be difficult.
He’s a quality player of course and Charlton should be stronger with him in the side but in the form they are in, he can’t expect to walk into the side despite the quality he has.
Obviously, Lee Bowyer will look to get him involved because of that talent he has got but Charlton’s current players and performing nicely and ultimately it is that competition for places that will drive them on this year.
Maddison, though, will obviously back himself to get into the side once he is fully up to speed.
What's next?
Charlton face Fleetwood Town tonight in Sky Bet League One and there is a chance Maddison could make the bench after missing the Portsmouth clash with his ankle problem.
However, if he does feature it likely won’t be for long and the obvious step for him is building match fitness and getting himself up to speed whilst staying fit.
Charlton take on Plymouth at the weekend in the FA Cup, before playing Leyton Orient in the EFL Trophy, and that might be a good chance for him to feature more, so it’s all about racking up the minutes and showing what he can do when the opportunities arise right now for the former Peterborough man.