‘Opposition manager’s must dread seeing Chuks coming on’ – Charlton’s Aneke has ‘fantastic’ sub impact

Chuks Aneke will continue to have his game-time carefully managed – with Charlton boss Ben Garner saying that opposition manager’s must be braced for pain every time they see the big frontman coming on.

The 29-year-old missed the start of the campaign with a groin problem but has scored four times since he came back on October 11.

Charlton were behind in Tuesday’s EFL Cup tie at Stevenage but Aneke came on to score a late equaliser and also converted from the spot in the penalty shoot-out as the South Londoners prevailed 5-4.

Asked by the South London Press if Aneke’s involvement could be ramped up, Garner replied: “At the moment his minutes need to be managed.

“It’s probably one that we’ll continually assess as we move through the season. The temptation is to take a risk and maybe throw him in early or push him harder – but I’m not in a position where I can do that at the moment because we haven’t got many forwards available.

“If you’ve got five or six forwards and he’s one of those five or six then you can take a chance because you have got other numbers.

“I’m not in a position to do that and I also don’t want to do it to Chuks. The focus is on him being in a good place as a person and him being fit and available so I can use him every week. If we can keep doing that I’ll be happy.

“Having him at the moment to come on – he’s having fantastic impact in games. If I’m an opposition manager in League One and getting to the 60 or 65 minute mark and you see him coming on, it must make your heart sink a little bit because you know he is going to come on and have a really good impact in the game.”

PICTURE: PAUL EDWARDS