Striker Martyn Waghorn is enjoying life with Leicester City

It's Christmas 2008 and Leicester City's man-of-the-moment Martyn Waghorn is on his uppers.

He is stuck in a south London hotel after being farmed out by parent club Sunderland to a Charlton team in free-fall.

Waghorn arrives at the Valley just a few days before the November loan deadline ends and makes his debut in a crushing 5-2 home defeat by Sheffield United – a clear sign of the troubles ahead.

There is a brief chink of light when Waghorn scores in a 2-2 draw with Derby, but the season of cheer is a miserable one for the 19-year-old as the Addicks lose three of their next four games.

They are bottom of the pile with just three successes in 27 games and Waghorn returns to Sunderland in mid-January – without experiencing a Charlton win.

Waghorn told the Mercury: "It was tough on my own down at Charlton. I was stuck in a hotel on my own for a couple of months and I couldn't really settle and feel comfortable.

"It was a tough time for the club, who ended up getting relegated."

There were also financial problems at the club which further unsettled the players and Waghorn said: "We didn't know what was happening from one day to the next and it was a massive learning curve for me."

Waghorn's experiences in south London are in stark contrast to the "great time" he is now having at Leicester.

He said: "I'm really happy here and the club has been great. My girlfriend is down here with me and I've got family not too far away, too."

He is starting matches and scoring goals and would love to stay with City until the end of the Championship campaign – and with City climbing up into the Premiership.

There are suggestions that Sunderland manager Steve Bruce could recall Waghorn in January, but the player is concerning himself with the here and now at the Walkers Stadium.

"Steve Bruce gave me a ring earlier in the season to see how it was going and I could technically get called back, but we will see what happens in the New Year."

City would certainly miss him. The Blue Army have warmed to the stocky striker who has netted four times, including a superbly-taken strike at Scunthorpe last weekend.

"I'm really enjoying my time here because I'm starting games and scoring goals and they are a good set of lads," he said. "We were disappointed with the 1-1 draw last weekend and I'm sure we'll give a team a 2-0 or 3-0 soon.

"We need to be more ruthless and one team is going to get it sooner or later.

"The important thing now is not to dwell on what happened last weekend with their late equaliser.

"I heard the fans singing 'are you going to Nottingham' so they're looking forward to it and we're going there to win.

"I've heard a lot about the game already this week. If we can carry on winning at home and push for victories away from the Walkers then we have a great chance of staying in the play-off places."

City keeper Carl Pentney has been handed an extension of his contract until the end of the season.

The 19-year-old has yet to make a first-team start, but was a second-half substitute for the injured David Martin in a League One draw with Swindon in February.

Pentney has also had loan spells at York City and Woking and manager Nigel Pearson said: "He has done very well and has the opportunity to develop as a player and to see where he takes it."

City's League Cup win against Tranmere in 2000 is among the nominations for "50 Golden Moments'' in the competition's history.

The Football League list includes the 2-1 victory which came in the last League Cup final to be played at the old Wembley.