Bowyer says Charlton are in ‘a good place’ heading into League One play-offs

Posted Sunday, April 28, 2019 by PA

Lee Bowyer says his Charlton side are ready for the play-offs after comfortably beating managerless Gillingham 2-0.

Just 24 hours after Steve Lovell was sacked, the Gills looked shell-shocked and rarely threatened an Addicks side who will take momentum into the play-offs having won nine of their last 12 games.

Joe Aribo put the visitors in front after 24 minutes and fellow midfielder Josh Cullen got his first goal for the club just before the break to seal the win – leaving Bowyer delighted.

“I’m over the moon with that. I thought that was a real professional away performance,” he said.

“They didn’t cause us many problems, our back three were solid in possession and they mopped everything up.

“We moved the ball well as a team and it was good to see two midfielders scoring. We could have scored a few more had we have taken care with the ball. It could have been four or five.

“We’re in a good place, we’ve got one more game to go in the league and I think we’re ready for the play-offs.”

Fifth-placed Charlton still have a chance of finishing further up the table and ensuring the second leg of their play-off semi-final would be at the Valley.

However, Bowyer insists he is not fussed about that.

“Some people say it’s better to play at home second but, for me, it doesn’t make much difference,” added the Addicks boss.

“When I played in the Champions League [for Leeds] we’d play at home first, win 3-0, then go away and lose 2-0! We just want to keep winning games and we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

The popular Lovell still had a year to run on his contract but with Gills – who are now mathematically safe – 12th in the table, he was sacked late on Friday, leaving Mark Patterson in caretaker charge for the final two games of the season.

“It was 4pm on Friday, everything was all prepared for this game and I was just about to go to the driving range,” explained Patterson, who was a coach under Lovell.

“Then Steve walked in the office and said he was leaving. I had a 10-minute chat with the chairman and the next thing I know it’s 7:30am [on Saturday] and I had to get up for work!

“Steve’s a popular man around the club and in patches we went out there and played like he’d want us to play.

Patterson insists he does not want the post full-time, though, adding: “I don’t want the job. You can write that in as big letters as you want.

“I like working here, but don’t put any money on me getting the job.

“I felt better when I saw that Scunthorpe and Plymouth were 3-0 down at half-time. I was very much mindful that we could still go down. I’m pleased we’re safe now as it’s been a long season.”