Guy Luzon has praised the recent contribution of much maligned striker Simon Church as Charlton’s upturn in fortunes continues.

The Welsh international hasn’t exactly won a place in the hearts of The Valley faithful since joining from Reading in the summer of 2013.

However, an impressive cameo from the bench during the recent 2-1 win at Cardiff, as well as a goal in Tuesday’s 3-0 success at Blackpool, means the 26-year-old’s stock has suddenly risen.

Church was handed a rare start at Bloomfield Road and managed to last 90 minutes, with head coach Luzon suitably impressed by what he saw.

“I think he played very well,” the manager said.

“Simon is a player who did well in the last few games when he came off the bench.

“He had a good influence throughout our team and he deserved to start in the XI. He has scored goals and we are happy with him.”

But the boss was non-committal when asked if Church could now be on course for a contract extension in the summer.

“We will decide about what happens next year at the end of the season,” the Israeli replied..

Tony Watt was replaced by Christophe Lepoint late on in midweek, leaving Luzon reluctant to speculate whether the Scotsman would be available to face Reading on Saturday.

He said: “We will see.

“Tony has played a lot in the last month and we will see who we have in the squad that is the most fresh and has the most ability.

“The international break will be more than welcome if we win against Reading.

“Our target is to win this game and go into the international break with another win.

“After the international break maybe Johnnie Jackson will come back into the squad, maybe Rhoys Wiggins and we have maybe a full squad.”

Leading scorer Igor Vetokele missed the Blackpool game through injury and again Luzon didn’t want to give anything away about his prospects for Reading.

“He felt his Achilles a little bit.

“We will see on Saturday if he will be in the squad or not.”

But Luzon isn’t attaching any significance to individuals ahead of the Royals game.

“As I say we are a team, we are not a team that cannot play or cannot bring in a result without X or Y.

“We are a team, but it is important we are a collective and all the players play well.

“If they are well organised and play well then we will be OK.”

Follow us on Twitter @NewsShopperSprt