Charlton manager Alan Pardew has defended his early release of Chelsea midfielder Scott Sinclair from his loan spell at The Valley.

Within hours of his return to Stamford Bridge, the 19-year-old headed back to South London and joined Charlton’s arch-rivals and fellow play-off contenders Crystal Palace until the end of the season.

Sinclair, who made three appearances as a substitute for the Addicks, never did himself justice having arrived at the club with a big reputation.

“He was unable to earn a first team place while he was here and he desperately wants to play games. I don’t have a problem with that,” said Pardew.

“With him joining one of our play-off rivals, there is a risk for me personally. I didn’t to lock him into here for some selfish, ulterior motive because him going out on loan is all about him playing.

“We feel the team we have here is strong and we’re going with that. There are a number of reasons why I let him go back, chiefly because we weren’t playing well enough to bring him into the starting line-up.

“I made a decision after speaking with the player and his club to send him back because it was the right decision for Scott. The fact that he’s ended up with Crystal Palace is nothing to do with me.”

But Charlton have extended the loan of England Under-21 striker Leroy Lita from Reading until the season’s end after the player arrived on an initial one-month agreement.

“Leroy has bedded into the team and we believe he will start scoring sooner rather than later,” said Pardew. “He likes it here and we like him and Reading are comfortable with him remaining.

“When he came here I reached a verbal agreement with the Reading manager Steve Coppell, which I couldn’t disclose to the press, that he would stay until the end of the season.”