PHIL Parkinson has urged Charlton fans to be patient with Leon McKenzie after the striker impressed as a substitute against Oldham last week.

The Addicks showed much more urgency up front when McKenzie came on to replace Deon Burton with 14 minutes left against the Latics.

They were unable to ultimately make the breakthrough, despite Kelly Youga hitting the bar and Izale McLeod missing an absolute sitter after being played in by McKenzie, but the signs were certainly promising.

But Parkinson is refusing to rush McKenzie back too soon from a series of injuries which have blighted his stay in SE7 since arriving from Coventry because of his importance throughout what will be a long campaign.

The Addicks boss explained: “I put Leon McKenzie on the bench last week but he isn’t ready yet.

“Leon has had a career of being rushed back too soon and breaking down again.

“He is a key player and I’m not prepared to let that happen.

“Leon is going to be a player for us and will be very important for the rest of the season.

“At the moment he is not ready and has had a couple of setbacks since I’ve been here and I don’t want him to have another one.

“We are working very hard with the medical team to make sure when he starts a game, he is ready to start a game and we don’t lose him.”

The goals have dried up in recent weeks and although open minded on a new tactical approach, Parkinson looks likely to stick with allowing Deon Burton to lead the line against Huddersfield on Saturday.

He said: “We’ve had a look at a couple of different scenarios this week.

“I think it is important to remember where we are in the league and how we’ve done over the 12 games.

“But we’ve had a look at a couple of things and we will make a decision on that tomorrow.

“It is good to have an alternative up our sleeve like we did with half an hour to go against Oldham when we change it around.

“That is what training is for, to look at slight tweaks in the way we play and try and give teams problems.”

He added: “You can say in only 12 games, Deon has got five goals.

“Over the 12 games Deon has done very well for us. I think the three games we had in the week took a look out of Deon, hence his training last week certainly hadn’t been as good as it had been previously.

“He has got a hernia, and he can carry on with a hernia as you know, and at the moment he is in a good place.”

Parkinson was certainly happy to have a week without a first team game, something which gave his small squad the chance to recuperate.

He said: “We needed it because throughout this first period of the season, the supporters have to remember the small squad we’ve been operating on.

“We’ve asked players to play in other circumstances where you would probably have pulled them out of the firing line.

“It has been a good week for us where we’ve had that combination of rest earlier in the week and had some training as we’ve moved towards the end of it.”