With 266 Championship games to his name, it’s fair to say Darren Pratley has been around the block when it comes to English football’s second division. The 34-year-old has spent the majority of his career at Bolton and Swansea respectively, but it appears to be carving out a nice little niche for him in the twilight stages of his career at Charlton.
The veteran has featured in 18 league games this season, and has shown his value to Lee Bowyer by performing in a number of different positions. As well as his more natural central midfield role, Pratley has played further forward, in holding midfield, and even at centre-back in the 3-0 victory over Derby earlier in October.
And against Hull on Friday night, Pratley scored his first goal of the campaign in Charlton’s 2-2 draw with Hull. The midfielder opened the scoring when he arrived unmarked to head home from a Conor Gallagher corner. Despite seeing the Addicks failing to seal all three points, fans flooded to Twitter to hail the former Swansea man.
A couple of Charlton fans even insisted Pratley was their man of the match for his performance, with Sofascore’s match rating appearing to back that statement up – his 7.8 was the highest of any player on the pitch, no doubt thanks to his goal and incredible ten total duels won.
At 34, Pratley may not be in the peak years of his career, but he is proving himself to be a reliable performer for Bowyer’s men. He may not be judged on the amount of goals he scores, but if he can add that facet to his game so late on in his career, it could give the Addicks an extra dimension.
Meanwhile, Lee Bowyer has admitted the absence of this influential ace is a “massive loss”.
