Charlton Athletic boss Nigel Adkins: Return of fans is so vital as fixtures set to whet the appetite for 2021-22 campaign

Charlton Athletic manager Nigel Adkins is looking forward to the 2021-22 League One fixture schedule being announced tomorrow morning.

And the Addicks boss says that the most important thing is that supporters are back in The Valley.

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced football behind closed doors.

Adkins said: “When the fixtures come out, you look at the first game, the games over Christmas and then the last game of the season.

“Clubs will maybe try and change a few games around because of local games, police etc. But it’s exciting, because all of a sudden now it starts to become real, in respect of we can start to plot the games.

“But the big thing is – can we get the fans in stadiums? It’s what we all need.

“We’ve got pre-season before then. I’ve been at clubs where we’ve won all pre-season games and lost the first few games of the season or where we’ve lost pre-season games and we’ve gone on an unbelievable run to start the season.

“So pre-season can be judged in so many different ways, in terms of getting a squad of players together to arrive at the start of the season, fit, fresh and organised.

“It’s how quickly you get a settled side and a group of people that want to be part of what you want to do. It’s not just about an 11, it’s about a squad of players who understand and know their responsibilities.