Harry Lennon believes Charlton can challenge for League One promotion under Lee Bowyer.

The 23-year-old ended his 15-year affiliation with Charlton last month to link up with former manager Chris Powell at Southend.

The defender found first-team opportunities hard to come by after recovering from a serious groin injury in December. He did not play a single minute of football after Bowyer replaced Karl Robinson in the Valley hotseat.

And Lennon, who made his Addicks debut in 2013, holds no hard feelings towards Charlton’s caretaker boss.

He told News Shopper: “He called me after the move and I had a good chat with him.

“We both agreed it was the right thing for me to do. I’ve only got respect for Lee Bowyer and I think he’s a good manager.

“He wished me luck. I always got on well with him.

“He’s the right man to lead Charlton. When he took over from Robinson, everyone upped their game.

“He knows the game inside out, he’s got passion and I’m sure Charlton will be up there again challenging [for promotion].”

Charlton have signed Lyle Taylor and Darren Pratley with the new season almost two weeks away.

More players are needed to strengthen the depth of the squad. First-teamers Ben Reeves, Igor Vetokele, Darren Pratley and Anfernee Dijksteel are crocked for Charlton’s opening-day game at Sunderland on August 4.

But Lennon reckons the current squad is good enough to compete for promotion.

He said: “They might need to add a couple more [players], but the players at the club have real quality.

“So, if they started the season now, they’d still be up there.

“Pat [Patrick Bauer] and Pearcey [Jason Pearce] are Championship centre-halves. I don’t think you’re going to get better than that in League One.

“It was hard for me to displace them. Training week in, week out with them has helped me and I’m ready to push on this year.”

Charlton exercised a clause in Lennon’s contract in May which extended his deal until June 2019.

But Southend’s offer of regular first-team football was too hard to turn down.

He added: “I came back from holiday and my agent spoke to me and said Chris Powell and Southend were interested. It all happened within a couple of days.

“It was a bit of a shock because I extended my Charlton contract in May.

“I was sad to leave because I’ve been at Charlton since I was eight years old and I have good friends there.

“But for my footballing career, it’s the right thing to do. I don’t think I was ever really going to get a good run of games at Charlton – and I think I can get that at Southend.”

Lennon made 40 appearances for Charlton, scoring twice.

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