Lee Bowyer believes Birmingham City pose a “different challenge” to Charlton as they seek to extend their unbeaten run in the Championship.

The Addicks are second in the table after six games and beat Blackburn Rovers, Brentford and Stoke City to begin an impressive return from League One.

But Bowyer, who is up for the Championship Manager of the Month award for August, insists patience will be key in unlocking Birmingham when they visit The Valley.

READ: Charlton star could still play against Birmingham despite knock

He said: “It’s going to different really to what we have faced so far. They are very solid out of possession, they get into their shape really quickly and we have to break them down.

“From the games that I’ve watched they’re very solid and they’ve got players that can hurt you going the other way. They’ve got a striker that is very good and from set-pieces they’re good.

“We have to be patient. We’re going to have a lot of possession and we’ve got to move the ball quickly because if we don’t we’ll just play into their hands. If we do the right things, like we have done so far this season, then it’ll be an interesting game.

“Obviously the first goal will be massive, but I’m looking forward to it it’s going to be a different challenge.”

READ: Charlton international round-up: Ireland ace wins plaudits in senior debut

Charlton will also be welcoming back several players from international duty, including top scorer Lyle Taylor who returned with a knock.

Although the striker, 29, has been put into a protective brace there are hopes he could still be fit enough to face Birmingham.

Meanwhile, Josh Cullen was given his senior bow for the Republic of Ireland as he was voted the man of the match in their 3-1 win against Bulgaria.

And Wales’ Jonny Williams received similarly high praise as he teed up Manchester United’s Daniel James for the only goal of the game versus Belarus.

Bowyer is not worried about the effects of the latest international break on his squad and, in fact, said it came at a good time.

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He added: “It’s good to have had the break, I think it came at a good time for us. Some have had a bit of a break, some have been away on international duty, so it’s been good.

“There are pros and cons to it, and the most important thing is that we can’t control where the breaks are. For us, it would have been good if we could have carried on playing because we were in a good place but, at the same time, I think that having that break has done us no harm.

“It gives us a chance to regroup, evaluate what we have done over the first six games and look where we can improve.

“It’s been a good two weeks to really look at everything.”