Fleetwood Town coach has high praise for Charlton Athletic boss Bowyer

Bowyer is in his first managerial role at the Valley, having stepped up from caretaker.

It’s so far, so good with Charlton coming to Highbury sitting fourth in the League One table.

Hill made the decision to hang up his boots last summer to support his former QPR team-mate Joey Barton in his first managerial role at Fleetwood, who are presently 10th in the division.

The two sides drew 0-0 at the Valley earlier in the season on a day when Charlton fans protested against owner Roland Duchâtelet by throwing crisps on the ground.

“He has done well,” Hill said of Bowyer.

“It was a difficult job to go into at the time, a bit unstable upstairs.

“He has got his ideas across. and there has been a steady progress which he will be happy with; I’ve been impressed.

“It is a tough job, you do not realise how tough it is until you are in it and I have full respect for anyone who throws themselves into it.”

And now Hill is expecting a difficult afternoon at Highbury as Town bid to bounce back from last weekend’s 1-0 defeat to Scunthorpe United.

He said: “It will be a very tough game.

“We went there and got a good 0-0 the way it looks now.

“They have developed and got better over the course of the season. They look stronger now.

“They play a 4-3-2-1; I think they have lost a couple of their strikers.

“(Lyle) Taylor is out, (Karlan) Grant is gone and they have brought (Josh) Parker in so they are big boys, a big unit, and they look like they are going to play football so it will be a good test for us.

“We know we are a good team, we just need to go out there and put on a performance for 90 minutes and hopefully get the three points.

“Hopefully we carry on with the good stuff we have been doing.

“We score some good goals but unfortunately we have switched off and certain moments have killed us in games.

“That happens throughout the season.

“All in all we are very happy with where we are right now.

“We have kept the majority of the squad and we have added to it; hopefully we have a positive end to the season.”