Charlton striker Igor Vetokele on his contract situation, why he knew he could click with Lyle Taylor and James Shea’s challenge

BY RICHARD CAWLEY

richard@slpmedia.co.uk

Igor Vetokele has admitted his long-term future is a concern – but that Charlton Athletic’s promotion push is his priority.

The 27-year-old scored in the Addicks’ 3-1 win over Luton Town on Saturday.

Angolan international Vetokele is out of contract at the end of June.

Along with Naby Sarr, he is one of the last remaining players from the club’s time in the Championship – when bigger salaries were handed out.

Vetokele is on four goals for the campaign, although the Dubious Goals Panel are due to sit today to see if he is awarded Charlton’s goal at Plymouth.

“I’ve got a family, so of course I think about my future,” said the frontman. “But for me, the most important thing now is to try and get promotion with Charlton and we’ll take it from there.

“At the moment I don’t know how the situation is. I’m going to focus on the job at Charlton and we’ll see in a couple of weeks.”

Vetokele has only been more involved since Karlan Grant was sold to Huddersfield Town in January.

He also put the cross in for Lyle Taylor’s second goal against Luton.

And Vetokele was never concerned they would not click.

“I wasn’t worried about that because I’ve played a couple of games in pre-season with Lyle and it was going very well,” he said.

“I was confident that we were going to find each other on the pitch. Lyle is a good player, so am I. We’re doing our best week in, week out.”

Vetokele was at the centre of the big talking point from the first half. He was wiped out by Luton keeper James Shea, who came flying out of the box, but had already lobbed the ball – which dropped wide of the left post.

Asked if it should have been a red card for the former Wimbledon goalkeeper, Vetokele said: “I can think a lot of things – but my opinion doesn’t count. As a player you need to focus on the game, try and continue. But am I okay with it? No.

“I’m not a referee, so I don’t make the rules. I’ve been told that I didn’t have the ball anymore, so it was not a goalscoring opportunity.

“There’s not much I can do about that.”

Charlton ended Luton’s 28-game unbeaten run in the league. 

So can that be used as an extra confidence booster going into the play-offs, if they do miss out on the top two?

“It can, it can – it gives us a massive boost,” said Vetokele. “It shows we are capable of beating top teams and that’s what you’re going to have to do if you want to get promotion.”

“It [the win over Luton] was pretty special. We went down 0-1 in the first half, but the second half we gave everything and won the game. It was a very good week for us – everyone is happy with nine points.

“Everyone was confident. We’re a very good team at home. When we get the fans behind us, we’re a difficult team to beat.”

 

IMAGES BY PAUL EDWARDS