Charlton boss on whether Stockley and Davison could work as a starting partnership

Nigel Adkins says that Josh Davison has fully earned his starting spot at Charlton Athletic – but also sees no reason Jayden Stockley could not partner him in attack.

The Addicks boss has started Davison, 22, in three of the last four League One matches. Stockley has been used as a second-half substitute, aside from starting the 2-2 draw with Portsmouth. But the latter scored a thumping winner at Fleetwood Town just before the international break, along with a brace in the EFL Trophy victory over Southampton U21s.

It leaves Adkins with a dilemma ahead of Saturday’s match at Lincoln City.

Asked if Davison and Stockley could start together, Adkins replied:  “Yes , and they have done this season.

“Josh has impressed me from the first day. I’ve been reallty, really impressed with him. When we talk about attitude, wanting to work hard and improve all the time – that’s the first starting block for me. Then he’s got attributes that are very impressive – he has got intelligent movement, he scores goals and he wants to constantly keep learning.

“Especially in pre-season we went over some video clips of his movement and how he can improve that a little bit. His willingness to want to keep improving is really good.

“He’s been in the team on merit.

“We’re growing. It’s not as if I had the whole squad together on the first day of pre-season. We’ve now brought more players in and got a big squad of players. We’ve got players in a far better position than what they were and I’m excited about the future.”

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD AND PAUL EDWARDS