Diego Poyet has explained why he did not fit into Jose Riga's plans at Charlton last season.

The ex-Addicks midfielder returned to the club on loan, but featured just seven times in a campaign that ended in relegation.

He was brought back by then-interim boss Karel Fraeye in January, and after Riga took over in the same month, he only started three league games.

It is a stark contrast to two years ago when the former Standard Liege manager masterminded Charlton’s great escape, playing Poyet in every match.

The Player of the Year for the 2013/14 season says Riga’s ideas were different to the ones he had in his first spell at the club.

Poyet told News Shopper: “He [Riga] did [talk to me] but it wasn’t the same situation as the last time we were both here in terms of the position.

“He came with different ideas to what he came with last time – and I just didn’t fit into them.

MORE: Charlton will not succeed under owner Roland Duchatelet, says Diego Poyet​

“To be honest, I didn’t really want to speak too much off the pitch, I’d rather do my talking on the pitch.

“Riga and I didn’t have a problem, but he chose other players and stuck by his decisions.”

Stephen Henderson did not feature for the last two months of the season due to various injuries, according to Riga.

News Shopper:

Stephen Henderson

However, there have been suggestions that the Irish stopper was left out for “non-footballing” reasons.

Poyet was quick to point out that it was not just the goalkeeper that Riga made decisions about.

He said: “I can’t exactly speak for him [Henderson], obviously he was injured for a bit, but he was also on the bench at times so it’s not like he was always unfit.

“Nick Pope was brilliant for a lot of the games and if it wasn’t for him, some of the losses would’ve been even worse.”

The 21-year-old added: “It’s not only the keeper, he [Riga] made a lot of decisions on the outfield players as well.

“Players he wanted to play, players he brought in on loan and players he didn’t bring in – at the end of the day, it was all a bit of a mess.

“He went with the ones he thought would keep the club up and unfortunately they didn’t.”

Tomorrow: Diego Poyet talks about the commitment levels from some of the players who were on loan at Charlton last season