Roland Duchatelet says Charlton would have been promoted to the Premier League if fans were on his side.

Addicks supporters have been protesting against owner Duchatelet for most of his four-and-a-half-year reign in SE7.

Selling their top stars for modest fees and failing to compete in transfer windows led Charlton to relegation from the Championship in 2016.

In exclusive quotes released to News Shopper, Duchatelet, who is set to sell the club to Australian businessman Andrew Muir, said: “The fans missed a big chance. I would have been able to bring the club into the Premier League.

“You will see in the future if it will go better or not. When I bought the club we managed to stay up with these [foreign] players that you qualify as not being good.

“We were not in a good position when we bought the club. The relegation was a big disaster.

“You have to realise when the players have to play in such an atmosphere when the fans say ‘we’re protesting against the owner’ - but throw the [toy] balls [on to the pitch] and everything - try to explain that to a young boy of 20 years or 25 years.

News Shopper:

Protesting Charlton fans | Picture: Benjamin Peters Photography

“They would have suffered from that. That was a big mistake from some of the fans to do that in my mind.”

Duchatelet has not attended a game at the Valley for nearly four years and fans have protested before, during and after matches in an attempt to oust him.

The Belgian millionaire has accused former Charlton staff of telling “lies” during his ownership.

In a conversation with political party Roland Out Today, he added: “I think the fans were misguided because, initially, what really happened was that some people had some privileges going in for free to the games.

“They lost those privileges because we thought it’s not fair because they don't contribute to the club.

“Some of those people were nasty and lied about many things and of course with the English culture in the PR section and communications section, we chose not to react to the lies.

“That was our mistake so people started to believe what they were being told [by former employees].”