Darren Pratley playing through pain of back injury – determined to play part in Charlton’s survival fight

BY RICHARD CAWLEY

Darren Pratley has revealed he is playing through the pain of a back problem – and has rejected any suggestion it is due to age.

The Charlton midfielder, 34, made his return to the Charlton Athletic starting line-up in Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Middlesbrough.

Pratley said: “It’s frustrating when you read it’s because of your age. I’ve done my back before, when I was 21.

“I was in the game at Stoke and went to do a movement and I did it start of the second half. I played on because we were losing at the time and I didn’t want to come off – I find it hard to come off in that scenario.

“We thought it was a back spasm but we had a little bulge in a disc. I had an epidural, that takes seven to 10 days to work.

“But I’m still in pain with it a little bit now.

“I’m trying my hardest to help the team as much as I can. I’ve trained twice since I injured my back.

“I want to help as much as I can, sometimes you have to go through a bit of pain.”

Injuries have had a major impact on Charlton’s season with the likes of Lyle Taylor, Josh Cullen and Jonny Williams all sidelined for lengthy spells. And then there were campaign-ending setbacks for Jonathan Leko and Sam Field.

“It doesn’t help,” said Pratley. “December and January were tough months for us when we had about 12 players out.
“We really needed help at that time – bodies in – that we didn’t manage to get.

“But that’s not an excuse. It’s a 46-game season, if we remain in this league with the budget we’ve got it will be a massive coup for us.”

PICTURE BY PAUL EDWARDS