Lee Bowyer admits Joe Ledley had a tough baptism at Charlton Athletic

BY RICHARD CAWLEY

Lee Bowyer has admitted it was not fair to drop Joe Ledley straight into Championship action.

The 32-year-old midfielder had been a free agent since leaving Derby in January but signed a month-long deal on Friday.

Ledley made his debut at Middlesbrough a day later – starting at the Riverside Stadium before being replaced at the interval by Lyle Taylor.

Bowyer said: “It’s probably not really fair to do that to him, but I was just hoping his experience would get him through it.

“Fitness-wise he hasn’t played for a while and fitness-wise he struggled a bit.

“We brought him in for a bit of experience – we’ve got all kids at the moment.

“Darren Pratley is the only experienced one we had, otherwise you’re relying on Albie [Morgan] – it’s a bit much to be relying on him starting. It’s asking a bit much, he’s struggled when he’s had to [start].

“We thought just bring in another experienced player to play alongside Prats. Between them they should be able to get through it.”

PICTURE BY KYLE ANDREWS