STRIKER Leroy Lita says he is suprised to see today's opponents Charlton (Carrow Road, 3pm) struggling near the foot of the Coca-Cola Championship.

Lita had a loan spell at the Valley and commented: "I played at Charlton on loan for a couple of months and I enjoyed it there, I played some games and it was good.

"I think it's a surprise to see them where they are and it's a surprise for everyone, because they're a massive club but these things happen in football. It happens, you have to have strong characters in a team to turn things around. I don't think it'll make any difference to their confidence, they had a good result the other night so they'll have taken confidence from that. We have to make sure we're on top of our game and not worrying about them."

Forced to miss the Reading game due to the terms of the loan deal which brought him to Carrow Road from the Madejski Stadium, Lita said he didn't enjoy not being involved: "It's not nice to miss games, it's just one of those things. The performances have been there but we just have got the results so hopefully that will change. You just have to take one game at a time and worry about that one, and then take care of the one after that."

Asked not for the first time about speculation surrounding his future, Lita said: "It makes no difference to me, I'm here playing football and enjoying myself. It's not in my control, people can say what they want - papers are there to make money, that's their job. I'm not really interested in anything like that, I just want to do well for the team while I'm here."