Igor Vetokele on rediscovering his peak form at Charlton Athletic, why he wanted to come back and ending his wait for an Addicks goal

BY RICHARD CAWLEY

Igor Vetokele believes he can rediscover the goalscoring form he had when he first joined Charlton – but claims it is all about gaining momentum.

The striker, who has spent the past two seasons on loan abroad, scored in Tuesday’s 8-0 pumping of Stevenage in the EFL Trophy.

It was his first time on the scoresheet for the SE7 outfit since January 2016, a 4-1 win at Rotherham.

Vetokele netted 11 times in his first campaign with Charlton and had eight of those by the start of November.

Asked if he was still capable of scaling those heights again, he said: “I can reach it but it’s all about momentum. Everything needs to be right to get back to that level. I’m trying my best to get back to that level, hopefully I can.”

Vetokele’s contract is up at the end of the season.

He has played the last two seasons in Belgium, one of those at Sint-Truiden while it was under the control of Charlton owner Roland Duchatelet.

But now he is back in the UK.

“First of all I wanted stability – I didn’t want to move again,” said Vetokele. “In my mind I felt like I had to come back to Charlton, I don’t know why. It is what I said to my wife at the end of last season. When I made up my mind I asked the owner if I could come back and he said I had a choice. I’m glad I’m here now.

“It’s good, it’s very good [to score again for the club]. I’ve been away two seasons but I really wanted to come back now and help Charlton get back to where it belongs. It’s a first step now. Now I want to continue that work.”