Charlton Athletic owner Thomas Sandgaard hinted that the club are looking to progress to category 1 academy status in the near future.

The club and first team has been built from the strong foundations that the academy has provided over the years and upgrading the standards of it would only improve their long term future.

Sandgaard was keeping his cards close to his chest when he spoke to the South London Press.

He said: "It won’t be long. As you know, I am very ambitious. I make sure things come to fruition. We are working on things in that direction. It’s looking very good.

"I could probably tell you more, because there are no ramifications from me doing so, but I prefer to talk when they are complete and done."

Albie Morgan, Deji Elerewe and Mason Burstow are currently leading the way for the next generation of young players at Charlton and will be hoping to earn more first team action over the next few months.

The Addicks travel to Shrewsbury Town on Saturday to get back to winning ways in the third tier. Defensive injuries mean that Elerewe is a shoe in to at least take up a position amongst the substitutes.

The Verdict

This could be some kind of PR distraction tactic from Sandgaard. Hinting at something impressive off the pitch that is bound to bring a positive reaction to take the attention away from the fact that Johnnie Jackson has not yet been given the manager's job on a permanent basis.

Youth development has always been at the core of the Addicks' progression with Dillion Phillips, Anfernee Dijksteel and Joe Aribo all key players having been involved in the academy setup when Charlton won promotion to the Championship in 2018/19. It feels like the club are at the beginning of a cycle in terms of when the next crop will come through with Jackson clearly a manager who is happy to show faith in younger players.