This article is part of Football FanCast’s Injury News series, which considers the impact of the latest updates on players’ fitness.
Charlton boss Lee Bowyer has revealed that his talisman Lyle Taylor has suffered a slight setback in his return from a knee injury.
The 29-year-old started the season in fine form with five goals in his first six Championship games, before damaging knee ligaments on international duty with Montserrat.
Taylor has been in a knee brace throughout his recovery but was able to remove it recently and return to light training, although the No.9 had to be withdrawn from a session after feeling the issue reoccur slightly.
What does this mean for the side?
Well, Bowyer was hoping to have Taylor in training throughout the week before naming him on the bench this weekend, although those hopes have been scuppered. He said…
“We were hoping he would maybe train this week, and maybe be on the bench this weekend, but it’s come a bit too soon. Those were our hopes when he came out the brace and he seemed in a good place, but he’s had a set-back, so he won’t be available this weekend.”
It’s not all doom and gloom for the south Londoners, however, as Macauley Bonne has performed admirably in Taylor’s absence with five goals in six starts.
Setback means Bowyer can delay lineup decision
We recently put the question to Football FanCast’s writers over whether or not Bowyer should drop Bonne when Taylor is back, and it will certainly be interesting to see what the 42-year-old does when he has the 10-goal pair both available.
Bowyer has deployed a number of different systems so far this term – eight to be exact – including some formations that have had just one man up top alone and a centre-attacking midfielder in behind.
The south Londoners could potentially have a fantastic duo with Bonne and the 6 foot 2 Taylor in attack together, although doing that could possibly sacrifice some defensive solidity – Bowyer is yet to play the pair alongside each other this season.
We presume that Bowyer would love to have both of his in-form forwards available to him but for now, however, the debate about how to best utilise them can be put on ice for a while following the unfortunate news of a setback for Taylor.