Curbs won't rush Rowett

Charlton's Gary Rowett this week kicked a ball in anger for the first time in six months - but Alan Curbishley says there is no chance of him making an immediate first-team return.

Defender Rowett suffered a serious knee injury in the defeat by Manchester City on the opening day of the season. He was sidelined until Tuesday when, six months to the day since his injury, he played 65 minutes of the reserves' 3-1 defeat at Portsmouth.

Curbishley is aware of how serious Rowett's injury was - at one stage it was hinted his professional career could have been in question - and will not push him into first-team action in the near future.

Charlton face Blackburn at The Valley on Saturday but Rowett will not feature and is instead preparing for another reserves outing against Ipswich on Monday.

But Curbishley said: 'Gary's only played 13 games in two years and to lose him and Richard Rufus for so long were big hits for us.

'Gary's trained for three or four weeks and played for the reserves so we'll see how he reacts.

'It's an ongoing situation and there's no pressure on him.'