AFTER playing his first game for Charlton since November, Miguel Llera hopes he can remain in the starting XI and earn a new contract in the summer.

Llera hasn’t represented the Addicks in a league fixture since the 2-2 draw with Dagenham in September, despite the changes the side have undergone over the last few months.

And with his contract up at the end of the current campaign, the 31-year-old realises he faces a race against time to earn a new deal at The Valley.

But the Spaniard is optimistic after taking his eventual opportunity well against Tranmere on Saturday, looking good at the back and netting the home side’s equaliser from a free-kick.

He said following the 1-1 stalemate: “It definitely was a good day, between scoring and playing very well.

“The result was disappointing because the team needed three points, but today proved to the team that this is the way forward for the rest of the season.

“There was a little bit of a deflection on my goal but the most important thing was that we scored the goal.

“Maybe I could have scored a second from the cross [which was almost fumbled by goalkeeper Tony Warner into his path] but it was just bad luck.”

At one stage Llera felt his chances of earning a new contract with Charlton were bleak, but he revealed an honest agreement with new manager Chris Powell led to his latest opportunity.

He explained: “I was told by the manager I would play the day before the game. I had some meetings with him before then, the first one was when he first arrived because I want to stay here.

“I told him that my contract is up in June and I need to be playing, so I asked him if I’d get my chance if I kept training hard.

“He told me if I did work hard in training every day, then yes I would have my chance.”

“When you don’t play, it’s hard. In five months I played two games.

“I trained hard every day hoping I’d have a chance to play, and I got that chance today but the focus was on the entire team trying to play well.”

He continued: “I could leave to go to another team but I want to stay and win promotion with Charlton. I want to play in the Championship with this club.

“I’ve kept my faith in trying to play and today I got the chance so I hope in the future that I can keep playing, and that the team can improve.”

If Llera’s performance has earned him a regular place in the starting XI, his next game will be somewhere he knows very well.

Indeed, Llera was signed from MK Dons by Phil Parkinson in 2009 and although he only played in Milton Keynes for one season, he admitted he’d love the chance to start at stadium:mk on Tuesday.

Of the upcoming fixture, he said: “Tuesday will be special because in the time I’ve been here, I’ve never played against MK Dons.

“If I do play, it will definitely be special because I played for them for one year and that year was very nice for me but we’ll be going for three points.”