This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Charlton Athletic manager Lee Bowyer has claimed he may struggle to field an 11 against Luton Town, as reported by the club’s official website.

What did he say?

The Addicks didn’t even fill their bench for the 2-2 draw against Cardiff City due to the injury crisis they are enduring, as they only had six.

With that considered, the last thing Bowyer needed was for another of his players to pick up an injury during the game, that was to be the case though, as Josh Cullen was stretchered off in the 56th minute.

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When asked about the Republic of Ireland international’s injury, Bowyer was quoted on Charlton’s official website as saying: “Not good, especially with Tuesday coming up. I was just saying to the staff that we’re going to struggle to put 11 out. We’re just running out of numbers.

“You see the kids we had to bring on and they did great by the way, but to bring them on is asking a lot from them because they haven’t played games before.

“Especially Alfie, Alfie’s come on and he’s never played a game for us, not even when we were in League One. So to then just throw him in against a good Cardiff side… but we have no choice. That’s the situation we’re in, but like I said before, we’re in every game and it shows how well we’re doing and what a good group I have.”

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Growing concerns

The amount of injuries that Charlton are picking up is becoming a real concern, as Bowyer’s selection options are becoming seriously limited.

He will be boosted by the return of Darren Pratley, who was suspended for the Cardiff match, but that doesn’t change the fact that various players will still be unavailable.

Lyle Taylor had been deemed “touch and go” for Saturday’s match, so there will be hope that the striker can make it for the Luton match despite having previously missed out.

Four of the players on the bench for the Cardiff clash were aged 20 years old or younger, but if this lack of luck continues that number could grow further.

In other news, Charlton have identified a January transfer target to help ease the burden.