Charlton Athletic Online

Charlton take on Leicester City on Saturday and the Addicks will be looking for another three home points to push them ever closer the top of the league table. Tuesday’s home win over Norwich was well earned, if a little late in being confirmed, and a similar display (with better finishing) should see Charlton claim another victory this weekend.

It’s always interesting to read other blogs and the media's “official” match reports, and this week plenty has been written about Tuesdays game against the Canaries, plus Luke Varney’s debut, and Danny Mills game-running feud with Huckerby and eventually Dublin.

On the match, the correct result was achieved, but as it came via two late penalties, some negativity has been seen; this really does miss the point. For long periods (the first twenty-five and last twenty minutes approximately), there was only going to be one winner of this match, Charlton were that dominant. The only sour note was that possession did not equate to goals earlier. Mind you, if any or all of the three attempts that hit the bar had gone in, things may have turned out differently!

For Varney, his home debut was good in my opinion. Others saw him running into the corners, and missing the main (one-on-one) chance he had during the second half. I had a good viewing angle on his run through, and have to say that the keeper did well and gave him little to aim at. Sure, he could have squared it, but that was what Leaburn and co would have done and look at the stick they still get for not scoring enough! It was his first game at The Valley, and I thought he did enough to show that his pace is excellent, he has good stamina (that can still be improved), and he does cause defenders problems by running directly at them. He will get better too…

With Mills, it seems that he is on the edge with every game, and everybody seems to hate him. Upsetting Croydon fans on his re-debut is one thing, but he then came up against two teams that were local from whence he started, and that was guaranteed to bring him stick. At Layer Road, he came under abuse but maintained concentration, and did a good job. A couple of fouls were timed well but, had they been a fraction off, could have been dangerous, and may have resulted in a card to match his shirt. Similarly, on Tuesday, he was under pressure verbally most of the match it seems, but when Huckerby’s (and later Dublin’s) frustration came out, he remained on the pitch and relatively calm. He possibly should aim for a quiet game on Saturday, if just to take the pressure off himself and maybe Pards will think about bringing Yassin Moutaouakil back in when the game gets a bit interesting for Mr Mills.

So to the Leicester game; Alan Pardew seems to have pretty much everyone available again. The apparent injuries at Colchester to Todorov, Fortune, and Iwelumo were obviously not as bad as they looked, and all could have played on Tuesday (and two did). Moutaouakil made a surprise appearance on the bench if not the pitch too, and that only leaves Holland, Thatcher, Gibbs and Sankofa as probably not ready for Saturday though all are back in training.

Whether the squad availability brings changes from Tuesday’s line up is not clear, especially after such a good performance, but with the possibility of a rotation policy being used, I expect a couple of players to be rested/brought in.

In goal though, Nicky Weaver is a certainty, and Darren Randolph will provide adequate back-up from the bench.

Mills will probably start ahead of Moutaouakil at right back, and Powell in front of Thatcher (an ex-Leicester player) on the left side. In central defence, I expect the excellent midweek partnership of Fortune and Bougherra to continue, with Sodje as back-up leaving another ex-Leicester player – Paddy McCarthy – out of contention.

The midfield will be interesting, as competition is obviously very hot at present, and apart from Semedo, nobody has tied down their place/position for the foreseeable future. Sure, Andy Reid will always play when fit, but will it be centrally or out wide? Zheng Zhi, similarly almost a shoe-in, but in what position? A wide player will play, but will that be Thomas, (new father) Ambrose, or Sam (fresh from an excellent midweek performance). And Sinclair and Racon are ready, able and willing back-ups should we be hit by a bout of flu or Dowie hamstrings or or something…

Labels: Charlton, Leicester, Zheng Zhi