Charlton need to be playing at a higher level according to Darren Pratley.
With as many as 14 players out of contract at The Valley this summer, winning promotion to the Championship on Sunday at Wembley would go some way to keeping and luring talent at the club.
The former Swansea and Bolton midfielder, 34, has spent the majority of his career playing in the top two tiers of English football and believes the young talent at the Club are too good for League One.
“These boys are fearless and they need to be playing at a higher level,” he said.
“The boys are that good.
“Your (Joe) Aribos, (Josh) Cullens, Dillons (Phillips), (Anfernee) Dijksteels, they’re very good payers and I think they’ll go on to have big careers.
“They’re better than League One and hopefully we can achieve that at Wembley.”
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Pratley, who scored the crucial goal to send the semi-final play-off to penalties against Doncaster Rovers, admitted that they may be underdogs going to Wembley but believes that having a young squad could work to their advantage.
“We probably will be underdogs, maybe to everyone else we’ll be underdogs, but we aren’t going in to the game building ourselves up as underdogs.
“Sunderland are a massive club from the Championship, but we aren’t using that as motivation that we are underdogs.
“We believe we are good players and we aren’t putting ourselves down.
“We’ll go in to the game on an even keel with Sunderland.
“You see Bielik sometimes at the back running, flicking the ball over players heads, taking strikers on, older players just want to get rid of it.
“When your young your fearless, Joe, Cullen, Dill and Dijk all they want to do is play football, they’re fearless.”
Pratley has tasted victory at Wembley before when he was part of the Swansea side that won promotion to the Premiership in 2011.
His experience, he believes may come in handy on Sunday as most of the Addicks players have yet to grace the national stadium, although some of the Charlton staff still recollect the famous penalty shoot-out win over Sunderland in 1998.
"I’ve heard a few things from around the training ground when a few of the staff mention it to us," he continued.
"They kept on saying 'when we were in the playoffs!'
"I’ve been in the situation before, I’m one of the more experienced boys, but I mix with the, (the younger players), but I try and keep it calm.
"Hopefully we'll have the same outcome on Sunday."
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