Charlton Athletic boss asked for update on Chuks Aneke after striker forced off in big win over Reading

Charlton head coach Michael Appleton says it is too soon to determine the extent of the injury which forced Chuks Aneke off in today’s 4-0 win over Reading.

The striker, who missed the opening months of the campaign, opened his account by heading in Corey Blackett-Taylor’s cross early in the second half.

Aneke’s second spell at Charlton has been badly disrupted by injuries and he was forced off soon, appearing to damage his right hamstring as he tried to wrestle Royals defender Nelson Abbey to reach a George Dobson throughball.

“We don’t know anything at the minute,” said Appleton, when asked for an update on Aneke.

“We will know in the next 48 hours whether it is a strain, a pull or just fatigue.

“I’m delighted that he got his goal but, at the same time, disappointing to see him have to come off.

“We certainly weren’t expecting him to get through 90 minutes today but we certainly were hoping that we’d be able to bring him off with sufficient time to know he would still be available for Tuesday (when Charlton play at Lincoln).

“That still might be the case – I’d rather be positive than negative.

“He felt really good this week and he was ready to play today.

“I didn’t think we worked the ball into him nowhere near enough in the first half. There were opportunities to rap the ball into his feet and we turned them down. I tried to encourage the players to do that more in the second half, whether we did or not…I’ll look back at the video.

“For him to get his goal was a big plus point.”

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD