“If someone gets a chance, they need to grab it and that goes for every player. They have to start contributing.”
Charlton have looked toothless in attack in the recent games when they were without both Grant and Taylor.
Taylor picked up another booking – his ninth of the season – on his return against Blackpool last week. It is another four games before the next yellow card amnesty kicks in, so Taylor will be walking a tightrope in these games. One more booking, and he will be suspended for another two games.
It is a worrying situation for Bowyer:
“Lyle plays on the edge and that’s when he plays at his best. I’ll be telling him again not to get involved in anything silly
“I thought Saturday’s booking was harsh, I don’t think he did anything wrong. He does get targeted, whether that’s just because he’s a physical lad, I don’t know, but that’s how I tell him to play.”
Saturday’s game will be the first time Taylor has played against former club, AFC Wimbledon, since his switch to The Valley in the summer.
The game will be even more adrenaline charged than normal for Taylor, and his battle with former colleague, Luke Nightingale, is fraught with danger. But Bowyer is confident Taylor will have a good game:
”I imagine Lyle will get a good reception. He’ll deserve that, but he’s our player now and he’ll go there and do the right things.
“He’s been brilliant since he walked through the door and it won’t be any different on Saturday.”
Bowyer also gave updates on his options for Saturday.
Jason Pearce played for the Under-23s last Friday, and Chris Solly was rested against Blackpool. Will they be involved at Kingsmeadow?
“We’ll have to see how he (Pearce) goes in the next couple of days. I was there at Watford and he was limping a bit at the end and he’s still feeling it
“He wants to play through the pain because we’re close to the end and he wants to be a part of it, but he has to be right.
“We’ll have to see in the next couple of days whether he’ll be in the squad on Saturday,” said Bowyer.
But he seemed more hopeful about Solly’s chances of playing in the game:
“His knee is fine. He had an injection on it on Monday which is routine. I was looking at the bigger picture last week because we have a run-in and I don’t want to burn him out.
“He has played more games this season than he has in previous years, so I have to look after him. I wanted him to recharge his batteries and go again.”
The season is at a critical stage now. The Addicks have only scored twice in their last five outings.
The poor run has all but extinguished their chances of automatic promotion, and seen the chasing pack for the play-off places narrow the gap on them.
The team desperately needs to discover its best form again. Kingsmeadow on Saturday would be the ideal place to start.