We will give it our all, promises Gray
Reporter: Matthew Chambers
Date published: 07 May 2010
Martin Gray: managing this weekend
MARTIN Gray has promised that Charlton Athletic will know they have been in a contest come tomorrow evening.
In charge of the team following the sacking of Dave Penney, Gray says that Athletic — who welcome back Deane Smalley, Reuben Hazell and Dean Furman following illness and injury — will give it their all to upset the promotion-chasing visitors’ chances of gaining three points.
Tom Eaves is also back in the equation and after a severely disappointing display at Yeovil in a 3-0 loss last week, Gray is hoping for better to sign off a poor campaign on a positive note.
“It is a fantastic game to finish the season with,” said Gray (pictured inset), who will be keen for a good show from his men in order to boost his chances of taking the manager’s job permanently.
“As a coach, manager or player these are the games you want to play in.
“Charlton are fighting for automatic promotion but they will know they are in a game, believe me.
“We are not going to make life easy for them as we want to win this game to give our fans something to smile about on the last day of the season. That is our objective.”
Gray believes the club has made some progress this year in the shape of a handful of players who have shone amid tough circumstances.
“The season hasn’t turned out as we would have liked it to have done,” he added.
“But the plusses are that there are three or four players who have jumped out of the group.
“Kieran Lee and Dale Stephens stand out and Sean Gregan’s season has been phenomenal with the number of games he has played. Reuben Hazell, too.”
Charlton, who have no fresh injury concerns ahead of the journey north, need to win and hope that Leeds lose at home to Bristol Rovers and that the game between Millwall and Swindon finishes all-square to end the season in second place.
Athletic (from): Flahavan, Lee, Hazell, Gregan, Black, Smalley, Worthington, Stephens, Guy, Whitaker, Abbott, Eaves, Brill, Lomax, Millar, Colbeck, Brooke, Taylor, Goodwin, Furman.
