Charlton 1 Blackburn 0

TALAL EL KARKOURI opened his Charlton goal account by scoring the winner against Blackburn at The Valley on Monday night.

El Karkouri, a £1m summer signing from Paris St Germain, headed home Danny Murphy’s corner early in the second half to give his side three points and elevate them into seventh place in the Premiership.

The goal capped an impressive display by the Moroccan international defender, who has shone in midfield since being drafted into the team for the trip to Birmingham.

He said: “Midfield is not my best position, but when you are a professional player you have to respect the manager’s decisions.

“When I play in midfield I just want to do my best. I need to defend, but I know I also have to get forward more because I am not at centre back.”

El Karkouri is more at home at the heart of the defence, but his versatility could prove to be a great asset for Charlton.

He said: “When the manager came to watch me in France I was at right-back against Lens and I played well.

“For the next game he sent another man and I played in midfield and another time I was centre-back. I prefer to play centre-back, but if you are a professional player and the manager says play as a striker you have to do it.”

Addicks manager Alan Curbishley likes to buy versatile players and it was El Karkouri’s ability to play anywhere along the back line or in midfield that helped catch his eye.

Curbishley deployed him in front of the back four to help add some steel and aggression to the side at Birmingham, following two heavy away defeats to Bolton and Manchester City.

And it is a role El Karkouri has quickly settled into, despite not being really classed as a midfielder since the age of 15.

“I just try to do my job in there, which is to pass the ball well and at the same time defend,” he said.

“The manager told me to stay in front of the defence when the other team gets the ball, make some tackles and stop their players getting the ball to the strikers.”

As if playing in his less-favoured position was not challenging enough, El Karkouri is adapting to a style of football that is different to what he has been used to.

“You don’t have time to think here,” he said. “When you control the ball you immediately have a player pressuring you.

“In France the right-back will give the ball to the centre-back and then the centre-back will give it to the left-back.

“Every time you get the ball here there is pressure, which is why when they see English games on French television they think it is very fast.”

However, it is not all completely new to El Karkouri, who previously had a spell in this country on loan to Sunderland from PSG in 2002/03. He enjoyed his time in the North East and after deciding to leave France in the summer he was keen to move back to England.

He said: “When you play for one team for five years you know in your mind you want to have a change.

“I wanted to have the same experience I had in Sunderland. I liked English football and the people, and I had one thing in my mind and that was to come back here. Everyone in my family was happy to return, especially to London.”