A strong Charlton side containing many of the fringe players, sprinkled with some of the youngsters, defeated Brighton at Sparrows Lane on Tuesday.
Goals from Leon Cort, Paul Hayes and substitute, Adebayo Azeez, were enough to secure victory for the Addicks. Possibly of most interest to the fans was Mikel Alonso playing for over an hour.
Saturday’s rivals, Stevenage, lost for just the second time in 22 matches at Notts County on Wednesday evening. Leading scorer, Jeff Hughes, scored the only goal in stoppage time to give new manager, Keith Curle, a winning start to his tenure at Meadow Lane.
Over 11,000 ‘Football For A Fiver’ tickets have been sold for Saturday’s game against Stevenage at The Valley. A bumper crowd of well over 20,000 will be able to enjoy entertainment from opera singer, Victoria Stanyon, before kick-off.
Skipper, Johnnie Jackson, along with Huddersfield hot-shot, Jordan Rhodes and Sheffield United striker, Ched Evans, have been nominated for the prestigious League One Player Of The Season award. The winner will be announced on 11 March.
Chris Solly should be fit to return on Saturday after being taken ill during the run-up to kick-off on Tuesday. Solly’s absence saw Rhoys Wiggins surprisingly deployed on the right with Cedric Evina coming in on the left.
Possibly, Solly’s withdrawal was too late for the club to get Andy Hughes’ boots brought over from Sparrows Lane. Powell likes balance in his teams and Tuesday’s side was anything but. As well as Wiggins not starting on his natural side, Danny Green continued on the left.
It may be significant that talented youngster, Callum Harriott, started against Brighton on Tuesday. Jackson is a slow healer and with the Stevenage game likely to be a physical affair, Powell may be reluctant to risk his influential skipper.
The Addicks will have to be close to their best if they are to win on Saturday. The team will need to be more balanced than they were on Tuesday but if they are focused, they will have a real chance. Their opponents may, subconsciously, have one eye on their next match, the FA Cup replay with Spurs at White Hart Lane.