Charlton Women keeper Rodgers: We need to spread scoring burden around

BY EDMUND BRACK
edmund@slpmedia.co.uk

Charlton Athletic Women’s keeper Sian Rodgers does not want to put the full goalscoring burden on Melissa Johnson and has urged her team-mates to chip in from other areas of the pitch.

Johnson, 32, netted 12 goals in the FA Women’s Championship last season in her first campaign for the Addicks to share the league’s Golden Boot award with London City’s Sarah Ewen.

The former Aston Villa and Leicester City forward, inset, penned a new one-year deal at the Oakwood over the summer.

“It’s great to have the joint-top goalscorer from last season,” Rodgers, who played with Johnson during their time together at Villa, told the South London Press.

“With Mel staying at the club, it’s massive to have her.

“We need to utilise her to the best that we can, but also, we don’t want to put too much pressure on her.

“If we put too much pressure on one person then they’re not likely to perform as well.

“If we can chip in with goals from other areas, then it will allow her to be a bit more free and not feel too pressured with us solely relying on her to supply the goals.

“We have a lot more experience in the squad this year, with the likes of Kate Longhurst and Kayleigh Green coming in and their experience in the Super League.

“There are a lot of players who were already here and have a lot of experience of playing in the Championship, which is massive.

“If we can bring that all together and utilise it as much as possible, we stand in good stead with the team that we have.”

Rodgers, 25, spent last season on loan with the Addicks from Super League side Aston Villa and made the permanent switch to South London this summer.

“The underlying reasons for me staying were the opportunities that Karen Hills gave me,” said the former England youth stopper.

“I hadn’t been playing many minutes previously and she put a lot of trust and faith in me. That goes a long way as a goalkeeper.

“The club did a massive thing for me by bringing me in, so moving forward, it made sense.

“It’s a club that has ambition which matches mine as well.”

Charlton are unbeaten in their first two outings of the 2023-24 season but were held to a goalless draw at 10-player Reading last Saturday.

“It was a missed opportunity, but Reading have come down from the Super League – they’re not an easy team to play against,” said Rogers.

“We’re still building. Game by game, we’re seeing improvements and that win will come.”

PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD