Fears over Rowett after £1m write-off

Gary Rowett's career in top-flight football was in doubt today after Charlton wiped £1million off his value in their accounts.

He has been plagued by knee problems and only played 13 times for the club since joining from Leicester for £3.5m in 2002. His last game for Charlton's first team was against Manchester City at the start of the season.

After several operations he recently made his comeback in the reserves, but a statement released with the club's latest figures today casts doubt over his chances of returning to the first team. Charlton have not named Rowett but in an unusual accounting step they singled out a player for an "impairment review", believed to be the 30-year-old defender.

They wiped £1m off the player's value in their books and this led to the club showing a small net loss of £690,000 for the six months to last December despite a 20 per cent increase in turnover to £21.3m and an operating profit of £2.7m.

Chairman Richard Murray said: "This result was affected by a charge of £1m following an impairment review of the carrying values of our purchased players. This charge related to a single player."

The figures still put Charlton in a very healthy financial position even though they did not include the £10m fee from Chelsea for Scott Parker which was agreed in January.