Manager Lee Bowyer reveals Lyle Taylor will not pull on Charlton shirt again

Manager Lee Bowyer has revealed the trio of Charlton players not currently wanting to play when the season restarts on June 20 – and prolific striker Lyle Taylor is one of them.

The Addicks need to play their last nine games of the campaign to lift  themselves out of the drop zone, where they were for just six days before lockdown.

But Bowyer has said they might have to start playing games without their key striker Taylor, as well as talisman Chris Solly and loan midfielder David Davis, who has played five games since joining from Birmingham City in February.

Bowyer told the South London Press on Friday three players did not want to rejoin the squad for training last week – and that they were then refusing to play.

Millwall academy product, New Cross-raised Taylor, 29, has played 78 times for the Addicks, hitting 36 goals, since signing on a free after his contract ended at AFC Wimbledon.

Bowyer told TalkSport: “Lyle Taylor is one of them. Chris Solly is the same and so is David Davis.

“Lyle is so worried about getting injured. He’s going to get a life changing move.

“We have 15 out of contract including six loans and nine of our own and unfortunately for us three of them players have said they are not going to play and Lyle is one of them. That’s tough for us and for me as the manager. Lyle is a big player for us – a bit like Troy Deeney at Watford. When he plays, we win games. He has said he is not going to play because of the risk of injury – Chris Solly the same. Davis has said he doesn’t want to come back and play games.

“It’s another hurdle. But we’ve got another 22 or 23 players that do want to play and that is the most important thing to me now. We have to brush it under the carpet and move on. Without them, we will move on.

“I don’t think I am asking too much as Lyle is a Charlton player. He has done great for us in two years – I would have thought he wants to finish what he started. But he is in such a difficult position. I speak to him on the phone and he wants to play. But he is so worried about getting injured, he said ‘I would not be the same player for you’. It is difficult because he is so big for us. 

“But he is going to get a life-changing move. I was saying this a few months ago when this first happened, talking about his contract. I thought this could be a problem because I know how well he has done for us. If it wasn’t for Lyle, we wouldn’t even be in this position. He had a great season last year and he started great this time. But now he has chosen not to come back and play to the end.”

Addicks academy graduate Solly, 29, has played 315 times for the Valley side but found games increasingly hard to come by as he vied for a place at right-back with Cardiff-raised former Sunderland defender Adam Matthews, who has played 21 times for Bowyer this season.