Charlton Athletic Football Club News

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

• Ground:The Valley
• Capacity:27,111

Pardew welcomes Bent boost

13 Feb 2007 - 07:19:35

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Charlton Athletic manager Alan Pardew is hoping that the return of leading scorer Darren Bent will be a major boost to the Addicks' bid to avoid relegation.

The 23-year-old striker has been out of action with a knee injury since the turn of the year, but should be fit to feature in the crunch showdown with West Ham a week on Saturday.

Pardew said: "We all know how important it is to have a natural goalscorer in your team.

"Darren's return is very much the key for us, perhaps more so than any other player. I think all the players are aware of that.

"We had a great start here with Darren Bent as captain, we drew and won - then to lose him was an awful blow to my staff and my players.

"Darren needs to accept that pressure, which I think he does. He handles it very well.

"He will come back as captain and help us get out of this situation."

England international Bent has scored 11 times this season and took over the captain's armband at The Valley in the absence of the injured Luke Young.