‘Naive’ former Blackpool man apologises to Huddersfield Town after being spotted in Bolton Wanderers away end

A former Blackpool striker has been forced to apologise after being spotted at Bloomfield Road on Saturday.

Steve Bruce’s men continued their impressive run of form against play-off rivals and Lancashire neighbours Bolton Wanderers. Goals from Ashley Fletcher and Niall Ennis sealed the Seasiders’ fourth League One victory in their previous five games.

That has seen the deficit to the top six significantly reduced in the past few weeks with five points currently the gap ahead of this evening’s contest against Reading.

However, during the Seasiders’ triumph over Bolton, Huddersfield Town striker Dion Charles was spotted posing for photos and taking videos with Trotters fans as he joined the packed out away end at Bloomfield Road.

His current club were in action themselves that afternoon but fell to a 4-0 defeat to Charlton at The Valley, with the Northern Ireland international missing out on the trip to the capital due to a hamstring injury.

This saw the 29-year-old come under heavy criticism from Terriers fans, just two months after completing a £750,000 move to the John Smith’s Stadium in January.

And after photos and videos appeared on social media on Saturday, the ex-Blackpool academy ace quickly apologised to interim head coach Worthington, who described the prolific goalscorer’s decision to watch Bolton as ‘naive’.

He told BBC Sport West Yorkshire: ‘Dion came to see me first thing on Sunday morning to apologise. I think ultimately he has probably been a bit naive with the context of it being Bolton and another team in our league.

‘He is injured and he isn't available for us and he was there with his three-year-old son. He was apologetic and ultimately we draw a line under it and move on as quickly as possible.’

Following his big-money move in January, Charles is yet to open his Huddersfield account having failed to score in his opening 11 games in West Yorkshire.

The Terriers currently sit four points above Blackpool in seventh and are just a point behind Reading, who occupy the final play-off paying position ahead of this evening’s round of fixtures.

Dion Charles’ stint at Bloomfield Road and career to date

The forward came through the ranks at Bloomfield Road but failed to register a first-team appearance but featured on the bench against Barnsley during the 2013-14 campaign under Paul Ince.

After departing the Seasiders in 2015, stints with Fylde, Fleetwood, Halifax and Southport were to follow before his big break at Accrington. This saw the Northern Ireland international net 30 goals in 97 outings for Stanley during a two-and-a-half-year stay at the Crown Ground.

Charles made a reported £320,000 move to Bolton in January 2022 and appeared on the scoresheet 57 times in 149 appearances for the Trotters during a three-year spell.

The striker isn’t expected to return for Huddersfield’s contest against Lincoln City this evening.

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