Charlton Athletic Football Club News

• Nickname:The Addicks
• Founded:1905
• Manager:Chris Powell

• Ground:The Valley
• Capacity:27,111

Addicks aim to keep Bent

08 May 2007 - 12:06:59

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Charlton Athletic chief executive Peter Varney still hopes star striker Darren Bent will remain at The Valley next season event though the Addicks will be plying their trade in the Championship.

The club's relegation was confirmed by Monday's 2-0 home defeat to Tottenham and boss Alan Pardew has hinted in the past that Bent would be sold if the club failed to remain in the Premiership.

However, Varney said: "What we'd like to do is try to get back with the strongest possible squad we can but it's impossible to answer that now.

"There are all sorts of ifs and buts about Darren. He's an England international and will obviously want to play at the highest level, and I don't know the answer yet.

"But we've got to keep the strongest squad possible to get back in the Premiership. You've all got to stay together.

"Nearly 17,000 fans have already renewed their season tickets, and did that before they knew what status we had, Championship or Premiership.

"That shows the faith they've got, for Alan Pardew in particular. We've got to work on that, build on that, and create an atmosphere that gets us back up."