Alfie May’s absence from Charlton’s 1-1 draw at Stevenage explained – as head coach happy at Aneke’s return

Charlton head coach Michael Appleton is expecting Alfie May to be available for next weekend’s home League One fixture against Wycombe Wanderers.

The summer signing from Cheltenham Town was absent for today’s 1-1 draw at Stevenage.

“He had a mild concussion and there is protocol that goes with that these days,” said Appleton. “He picked it up on Tuesday. We full expect him to be involved at the back end of next week and hopefully be available for Wycombe.”

But Charlton were boosted by having Chuks Aneke available for the first time since February.

The big frontman had missed all of pre-season and the start to the campaign due to a calf injury.

Aneke was keen to take Charlton’s late penalty today but Corey Blackett-Taylor managed to get his hands on the ball and converted in the second minute of stoppage time.

Asked how influential Aneke could be for the Addicks, Appleton said: “Yeah massive, massive. There was a big loss before the game, back end of the week, with losing Alfie. So to have someone like Chuks to come off the bench – have the presence that he has and impact he had on the game was really good.”

Appleton’s first match in charge ended with the points being shared.

It had been four away defeats in all competitions before this weekend.

“Within 10 minutes there were three or four things that I’d have done differently today,” said Appleton. “Which is great – because you don’t get the chance to see that until you actuallly witness it in a game situation.

“It has to be (seen as a positive start), doesn’t it? We’ve gone a goal behind against a top of the table team and not played particularly well first half – we could quite easily have gone under, given the fact we have only won two times this year. But they didn’t. We stuck at it and got themselves back in the game. We probably looked like the team who could win it.”

PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD