Bolton Wanderers v Charlton Athletic

DARREN BENT is on course to make an earlier than anticipated return for Charlton, at Bolton on Wednesday.

The club’s 10-goal leading scorer, who has not played since damaging knee ligaments in the 2-1 win against Aston Villa last month, had been earmarked by manager Alan Pardew to make his comeback away to Manchester United on Saturday, February 10.

But after the striker resumed training on Wednesday, the manager was upbeat over an imminent return to strengthen the fight against relegation.

Pardew said: "We set a target date of the Manchester United game but we’ve been so pleased with his progress.

"He will train on Wednesday, so will Luke Young and Andy Reid. That’s a lot of talent to come back into this squad."

Charlton’s players will not be idle between now and Wednesday’s trip to Bolton.

"I’ve pencilled in a mid-season, pre-season," Pardew explained. "We’re going to put in a lot of hard work this week because we need to be fitter than everybody else and more intense than the rest.

"It’s a brilliant opportunity for us to get all the disciplines I’m about and get the fitness levels up."

* Keep up to date with all the news from The Valley every week in the Bexley Extra.