Lee Bowyer pleased to see hard work pay off as Macauley Bonne ends goal drought – also explains absence of Andre Green and Tomer Hemed at Brentford

BY LOUIS MENDEZ

Charlton boss Lee Bowyer felt that hard work had paid off after Macauley Bonne ended his goal drought with the opener at Brentford on Tuesday night.

The former Leyton Orient man had gone ten games since he last found the back of the net with a brace against Bristol City at The Valley on Boxing Day.

Bonne latched onto Jake Forster-Caskey’s flick on to head the Addicks into an unlikely early lead at Griffin Park, although they would be pegged back as the hosts scored twice in the final fifteen minutes to claim the win.

The strike takes his goal tally in his maiden Championship campaign up to nine.

“I’m pleased for him because he does work hard,” explained Bowyer, who had previously said that Bonne had to rediscover a clinical side following a missed chance last time out against Millwall.

“He works really hard. He got his goal today and hopefully that will be the thing that gives him a bit of confidence now with the last four games coming up. He ran himself into the ground and couldn’t move in the end, it was hard up there on his own.”

Bowyer was able to call upon Chuks Aneke in the closing stages in west London but explained fellow strikers Andre Green and Tomer Hemed were absent from his matchday squad.

“Andre has had a bit of a knock,” revealed the Addicks boss.

“Tomer, [Millwall on Friday] was the first ninety minutes that he’s played in well over a year so we’ve had to look after him and make sure he’s ready to go again on the weekend. It was just a resting because he played ninety against Millwall.”