Church: I deserved more chances at Reading

Simon Church believes he deserved more starts at Reading during his tenure, but feels he has a new lease of life at Charlton.

The Welsh international was released by the Royals at the end of last season, after six seasons at the Madejski Stadium. After various trials, fellow Championship side Charlton decided to give the 24-year old a chance and has made a decent start, scoring three goals already this campaign.

Quoted by the South London Press, Church said: ‘I did get offered a contract by Reading earlier last season which I was negotiating. But at the time I felt I just needed to play games and that I’d deserved more chances than I got over the past couple of years. I’d played a big part in Reading getting promotion and scored some important goals.’

‘I should have had more starts. Last season was a tough one for me mentally – but I had to go through to get to where I am now. I had a good pre-season, I scored the most out of any of the strikers, but again just didn’t get the chances. Then I knew it was time for me to move on. I had to stay strong.’

I’m glad to see Churchy doing well, I’m surprised that he stayed as long as he did here. However, I think the Premier League was too much of a step up for him, so I’m not sure why he is complaining about his lack of chances. He had great potential, but didn’t fulfill it to the maximum, I hope he does at Charlton.