Diego Poyet says foreign loan players at Charlton last season did not really care if the club were relegated.

The former Addicks star returned to the Valley in January, on loan from West Ham, but barely featured under Jose Riga.

However, the Belgian boss played foreign loanees including Yun Suk-young, Simon Makienok and Rod Fanni.

Poyet says the overseas imports did not truly understand what was going on at the club.

He told News Shopper: “When I was last here, there were more players that had been at the club for many years – people who seemed to care more about the club.

MORE: Diego Poyet explains why Jose Riga failed to play him at Charlton​

“This time there were players, obviously I can’t really talk as I was on loan as well, but players from abroad who were on loan and [they] didn’t seem to understand what was going on.

“[They knew] they weren’t going to be affected by anything the season after if the club got relegated.”

The 21-year-old added: “Whereas, there were players who really cared that the club were going to be in League One.”

A number of foreign players have been signed by Charlton during owner Roland Duchatelet’s reign.

Barring a few successes, most have failed to adapt to the English game.

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

An influx of below-par imports from lesser European leagues arrived in SE7 when the Belgian millionaire bought Charlton in January 2014.

And Poyet pointed out that former manager Chris Powell only picked players who wanted to fight for the club.

He said: “When the owner took over, Chris Powell still stuck with the players who he thought were the ones who cared about the club.

“At the end of the day, it’s up to the manager whether to play them or not.”