Bowyer on the return of Bielik and the benefit of the international break for Bauer and Page

Charlton manager Lee Bowyer was pleased his players on international duty have returned unscathed.

Krystian Bielik, Josh Cullen and Lyle Taylor all received call-ups resulting in last weekend’s game with Walsall getting postponed.

The weekend sees Charlton’s Kids For A Quid initiative return to The Valley – with all U18 tickets being priced at just £1 each – and you can purchase yours online by clicking here.

The trio returned and Bowyer was pleased to welcome them back. He said: “Yep, they’ve all come back uninjured which is good. Josh played two 90 minutes, I’d rather he didn’t but it is what it is. The most important thing is that they’ve all come back unscathed, which is good.

“Krystian hasn’t played any minutes for us since he’s come back from injury. Then he went away so I was hoping he’d get some minutes into him but that hasn’t been the case and he’s come back and is still fit so that’s good. Sometimes they go away and don’t get any football and can break down again. So the positive thing is that he’s had a good two weeks of training and he’s back but I’d have rather him have got some minutes into him because he could’ve played for us in the Checkatrade game (against Stevenage) but we can’t control that. The most important thing is that they’re all back and looking good.”

Bowyer was also pleased that the break means injured pair Patrick Bauer and Lewis Page are closer to a return to fitness. He said: “Patrick and Pagey, it’s helped them. Two weeks gone by and they haven’t missed a game. So it’s a positive. We’ve got Wardy, he’s been able to have two weeks of training and play in the Checkatrade game so it’s benefitted us in the long run.

“The break was a good thing, it recharged the batteries of those who weren’t on international duty. We’ve been working hard and had two weeks to prepare for the game. Sometimes that can be a bad thing because you’ve got two weeks to think about the opposition but you can overthink it. They're a good side, I’ve been watching them a lot over the last two weeks. It’s been a positive thing for us I think (the break).”

You can read what Bowyer had to say about Barnsley by clicking here.

His full interview will be on Valley Pass later today. 

The weekend sees Charlton’s Kids For A Quid initiative return to The Valley – with all U18 tickets being priced at just £1 each – and you can purchase yours online by clicking here.

Transcription by Nick Emms

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