Charlton Athletic boss asked about absence of Andrew Shinnie from recent matchday squads

Nigel Adkins has discussed Andrew Shinnie’s omission from recent Charlton Athletic squads.

The Scottish midfielder had been a regular under Lee Bowyer and turned his loan from Luton into a permanent deal in January, although he is still a free agent at the end of June.

But Shinnie has not started a League One match since the 2-2 draw at AFC Wimbledon on March 20. Since then he has made two second-half substitute appearances and not made the matchday squad for the last two matches along.

The Aberdeen-born playmaker was put through a fitness workout by Josh Hornby, head of physical performance, along with Deji Oshilaja on the Valley pitch before the 2-2 draw with Crewe on Tuesday night.

Charlton manager Adkins said: “Andrew has been training very hard. His attitude has been spot on. He wants to play, like all players want to go and play. We’ve only got a small squad, maybe a couple of players miss out – unfortunately Andrew, Dej and young Smithy have missed out. All the rest are either injured or in there.

“Competition for places drives performance and players know that. Andrew and Dej were not on the bench for the last one. He [Shinnie] came on against Plymouth when we won 6-0. I’ve only had a handful of games and we’ve tried to make sure we have a bit of continuity in our team selection and be adaptable with the impact coming off the bench – sometimes it is going to be unfortunate for someone missing out.

“Total respect for all of them. They are working really hard. When you are out it is a bit ‘oh, what have I done wrong?’ – they have done nothing wrong. Ultimately I’ve got to make a decision.

“If I play Andrew and someone else misses out then I’ll be having exactly the same conversation with that player – for example if Jake Forster-Caskey is not in the team. We need that competition for places. Total respect for all of the guy, total empathy they are not in the team – but what can we do on the training ground to keep ready? So when the opportunity does arise they are ready to make that impact for the team.”

PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD