Marcus Maddison starred as Charlton defeated Leyton Orient 3-1 in the Papa John’s Trophy at The Valley on Tuesday night.
The 27-year-old paired his first Addicks goal with an assist in what was his first full 90 minutes since arriving in SE7 last month.
Maddison’s dangerous free-kick found youngster Jay Mingi who headed home at the back post to double Charlton’s lead before netting himself in the 74th minute with an emphatic finish off the underside of the crossbar to restore the Addicks’ two-goal cushion, making it 3-1 to the hosts.
Clocking Up The Minutes
The attacking midfielder made back-to-back competitive starts for the first time in nine months after playing 65 minutes on his full Addicks debut during Saturday’s FA Cup clash against Plymouth Argyle.
“I was knackered by the end I can’t lie!” joked Maddison after Tuesday’s victory. “I’m just happy to be out there playing again.
“The important thing is I’m getting the minutes. I’m slowly getting there. I can’t expect too much from myself too fast, but we’ll get there.”
A Step In The Right Direction
Manager Lee Bowyer made no secret of the fact that Maddison would have to work harder in order to play under him after what he described as a “rusty” performance from the midfielder on Saturday and it was clear to see Maddison responding to his manager’s demands.
Speaking post-match, Bowyer said: “I think he looked better today. He worked harder, which is good – he’s going to definitely benefit from having 90 minutes into him, which wasn’t the plan but young [James] Vennings had to come off.
“You see the bits of quality he does have, the balls into the box were a lot better than Saturday but still not quite to his level that we all know he can get to. That’s a good thing that he’s moving in the right direction. He was one that lost the ball and reacted in the right way.”
Time Off
Charlton now have an 11-day break before they return to Sky Bet League One action at Gillingham on Saturday 21st November.
Asked about whether this enforced break was beneficial, Maddison said: “Yeah, I think potentially. Since I’ve come in it’s been a lot of stop-start. Obviously, I’ve had little niggles, or I’ve been on the bench so you’re not training day in day out. I’m not going to get too fit by doing that so a little break might help obviously.
“I’ll come in tomorrow, look after my ankle and just kick on Thursday.”
