Nigel Adkins: Charlie Kirk has had to acclimatise to life at Charlton Athletic

BY LOUIS MENDEZ

Nigel Adkins says that recent arrival Charlie Kirk has taken time to acclimatise to life at Charlton Athletic.

The former Crewe Alexandra man made the move from Gresty Road to The Valley late on during the summer transfer window. His transfer came days after suffering a family bereavement and his Addicks subsequently career got off to a slow start.

The 23-year-old wasn’t involved at all during the last four outings but was given the nod to start this afternoon’s 2-1 win at Fleetwood Town and was involved in some good Addicks moments – including the assist for Jonathan Leko’s opening goal.

He also saw a decent opportunity go begging as he sliced wide when well-placed in the first-half but will have been pleased with his overall contribution to the win.

“At his own admission he’s got to score the opportunity he’s had there but he’s put it wide,” said Adkins.

“But he scored a good goal in the week for the [u23s] side that played Brentford and he’s had to wait patiently. He’s come in, like everybody you join a new football club, you join a different part of the world, certain situations are on – you’ve got to acclimatise, you’ve got to get used to it. We’ve got a big squad of players so competition is there.

“There’s players who’ve not even travelled today, players’ we’ve got who aren’t even on the bench today. That’s part and parcel of having a big squad, being part of a big team, a big football club. All being well, all this competition for places once we get ourselves on that roll is going to bode well for the future.”

Another man who has seen his chances limited recently is striker Jayden Stockley – who grabbed Charlton’s winner at Highbury Stadium.

The frontman has been on the bench for three of the last four, with in-form Josh Davison starting in his place.

Stockley emphatically converted Leko’s cross from close-range with 20 minutes left to go – taking advantage of the sort of service he’s been denied for large spells of the season so far.

Adkins added: “[Stockley has] missed the last couple of games because Josh Davison has been great. Josh has scored two in two and today was a whisker from scoring his third and hit the post as well. Josh has done great for us.

“We want that competition for places, we need to be able to impact games as we go and everyone has got the bit between their teeth. You can see that. We’re in a challenging period but you can see we create opportunities to score and everyone is working hard for each other which bodes well for the future.”

PHOTOS: KYLE ANDREWS