Macauley Bonne has become crucial to Charlton’s plans this season says Lee Bowyer.

With Lyle Taylor side-lined indefinitely with a knee ligament injury, and Tomer Hemed still struggling with fitness, Bonne has been asked to lead the line.

With three goals in his last four appearances, including a clinical finish to open the scoring in the 3-0 win over Derby at the weekend, it seems he is recapturing the his Leyton Orient goalscoring form.

With a trip to Bristol City on Wednesday, Bowyer admitted Bonne was a player they now depend on .

“Wednesday we’re going to need him to be as fresh as we possibly can,” Bowyer said.

“That’s why I took him off (against Derby).”

Bonne was Charlton’s first signing of the summer, arriving from Orient for a fee believed to be around £200k.

Bowyer has been clear in how he and the club see the 23-year-old as a project and that this season was about the Zimbabwean learning and honing his trade.

With an extended run of games under his belt however, and scoring vital goals against Leeds, Fulham and now Derby, his importance to the side is clear in the present.

“He was outstanding and it was a great finish,” Bowyer said of his sixth minute strike against the Rams.

“I’ve said that he can finish but there’s other parts of his game that we’re working on,” he said.

“There was one where he was running through and he had Conor and just had to slide it into his path.

“They’re the small details that we’re working on.

“But he was great again, he didn’t stop working.”

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Speaking of his goal, Bonne revealed his movement to create space has been part of his game he’s been looking to improve.

“We’ve been working on it in training, the different movements, and the second that I saw Jonny [Williams] dart a line I created my own space near the front post.

“I actually gave a point where I wanted the ball and when it came across I just focused on getting a good connection on it and by the time I looked up it’s bouncing out of the net already and I just see Jonny’s face with a big smile on it.”

“I seem to be picking up to where I left off last season with Leyton Orient.

“I’m happy to be scoring goals again, that’s what I’m in the team to do and I’m happy to be doing it again.”

“I just want the games to come now. I’m ready and I just want to keep winning games”

Charlton travel to Bristol City on Wednesday.