Charlton Athletic boss reveals the truth behind Marcus Maddison links - and makes a candid Sunderland admission

Lee Bowyer admits his Charlton Athletic side will face an uphill battle against Sunderland this weekend – given his side have been left behind in the transfer market.
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Due to a complicated ownership scenario – which was only settled by the takeover of Thomas Sandgaard last week – the Addicks have been under a transfer embargo for much of the summer.

That has left Bowyer far behind a number of his League One counterparts when it comes to rebuilding his squad, and the Charlton chief is under no illusions to the fact that his side are currently ‘weaker’ than some of their rivals.

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But that won’t stop Bowyer from targeting three points against the Black Cats, in a fixture he admits brings back some positive memories.

Charlton Athletic manager Lee BowyerCharlton Athletic manager Lee Bowyer
Charlton Athletic manager Lee Bowyer

“I want to win every game,” he told cafc.co.uk

Sunderland will bring back some good memories but we’ve just got to try and put out the best side we can and try and compete and pick up as many points as we can while we’re in this period where we’re weaker than other teams.

"That’s plain to see because we’ve played three league games and won one and lost two. It’s not what I want and it’s not good enough. I accept that but I believe that by the time that the window closes we’ll be a lot stronger and we’ll be able to compete properly.

"They’re a strong physical side, a good Sunderland side. I spoke to someone earlier in the week and what I said to him was that 90% of the teams that we’re playing have their squads finished and they’re ready and rolling.

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"They had their squads before this cap came in whilst we were behind under the embargo. The players that we’re signing now are behind time because they’ve not been signed and they’re definitely not able to play games.

"I know that we will get it right. We lost some good players in the summer and we’ve just got to re-build it."

Meanwhile, Bowyer confirmed his interest in Sunderland-linked Marcus Maddison after reports suggested the free agent attacker could be set for The Valley.

"I like Marcus [Maddison] and we did try to sign him in January,” he admitted.

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“But I like a lot of people and there’s plenty of players being thrown at us at the moment and we’ve got to make sure that we make the right decisions because we don’t have much to play with in the budget and we have to make sure we get it right.

“We’re working hard every hour. When I leave the stadium now I’ll be straight on the phone to Steve Gallen and seeing if anything’s developed since before the game.

"Two hours before the game I had a meeting with Steve, a player and his agent. Someone else that we’re interested in and we’re trying to get over the line. It’s not that easy because we don’t have much to play with because of this cap. The cap is absolutely killing us at the moment."

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