Lee Bowyer is set to field a strong side when Charlton take on Norwich City in their final match of pre-season at The Valley on Saturday (3pm).
The encounter will be Bowyer’s last chance to observe his players in a game situation before next weekend’s League One opener at Sunderland, and tickets for the friendly remain on sale. To purchase yours online, please click here.
The Addicks came from behind to earn a draw against Premier League Brighton & Hove Albion in midweek and, speaking to Valley Pass, Bowyer said that he hopes his team can produce a similar level of performance against the Canaries.
“We want to get through Saturday and get as many minutes into the players as possible,” he said. “We are going to try and get 80 per cent of them through 90 minutes and to start polishing up on things we have been lacking.
“Games like Saturday will push us to somewhere where we are not used to being pushed. Like Brighton, Norwich will be a side who move the ball and will challenge us in ways that teams in our league won’t challenge us.
“Tuesday night was a challenge, to ask the players to go into areas of the pitch where they are not used to closing people down. It was something way out of their comfort zone.
“Once they started doing what we were telling them to do, you could tell the difference straight away. Brighton stopped playing the ball around us, then we started to win the ball higher and started to create chances.
“We have shown the lads some clips of positive play from Tuesday and Norwich will be the same on Saturday. They will do things that we are not used to and it is about how we adapt to that. It’ll be good, I’m sure, and we’ll be able to see where we are fitness-wise too.”
Tuesday saw a number of Charlton’s youngsters impress at The Valley. Bowyer was full of praise for them.
“It’s not going to do them any harm, that’s for sure,” he said. “If we had taken some chances then we may even have gone on to win. I know the result didn’t matter but it’s always good to have that mentality.
“For the young lads to be playing on that stage against the Premier League players was great.
“For me, it was a good thing because everything we do at the training ground is around one and two touch and you would have seen that from Brighton on Tuesday. The difference was how quickly they moved the ball.
“None of them took more than two touches, unless they were in the final third. I was able to say to the players ‘this is why we do this… because you get to that’. It was good for us to show the lads what we are looking to get from them every week. They are getting there”
Tickets for Saturday’s friendly remain on sale and can be purchased in person from The Valley, by phone or by going online. Please click here to purchase yours online.