On Tuesday night, Yaya Sanogo completed 90 minutes for Chalrton.

The 23-year-old, as you know, has a long history with injury and it seemed that as soon as he recovered from one, another body part decided it would quite like to fall off. So it did.

Starting the season with Ajax, that loan was a total disaster with the management not even appearing to want him there.

He made just three Eredivisie appearances and was only included in the squad six times. He was given zero league starts by the Dutch masters.

Since he returned to England, he has played in five Championship games, netting three goals with a minute-per-goal ratio of 80 minutes. It was an impressive hattrick that perhaps skews the stats.

It’s a small sample, but it is encouraging.

Perhaps he’s finally learning to control his legs.

via Charlton AFC Facebook
via Charlton AFC Facebook

The game on Tuesday night against Ipswich (0-0) was Yaya’s return to playing action after missing out on the last three games through suspension and only a superb save from Bartosz Bialkowski kept him from registering a goal on his return.

He’d picked up a straight red against MK Dons late in the game for a very naughty (and needless) elbow.

It’s ok, he knows he ‘did wrong‘.

Hopefully now, with his suspension behind him, he can start to put together a run of games.

Injury is, of course, never far away. Already this season he has missed almost two months with a groin problem when he was in Amsterdam.

charlton sanogo 1
via Charlton AFC Facebook

He also missed the game against Heerenveen through illness, a malady that would spell the end of his involvement with the Ajax first team after being on the bench in the two previous games when he returned from injury.

There’s a player inside Yaya somewhere. He just has to find it.

First up he needs to stay fit.

Then, should he ever gain mastery of his limbs, we might just see the talent that excited so many as a teenager.

Charlton are now seven points from safety with just six games remaining.