Leon Clarke will move to Coventry next week. The club site says the deal is a loan but the Coventry Telegraph are reporting it as a trial with a view to a permanent move.

Chris Powell has intimated that Clarke has no future at The Valley but it was thought the Addicks had offers on the table for the player.

Clarke had a highly successful loan spell at Scunthorpe, scoring eleven goals in fifteen outings for the Iron. It would be surprising if there was not interest in the much travelled striker. Charlton would obviously prefer a permanent deal so the Coventry Telegraph report may be accurate. The problem could be that the Addicks would want a fee and the Sky Blues have well documented financial problems.

Charlton lie in eighteenth position having now played all teams once and are eight points off both the play-off and relegation zones. The division is very even and does not have an outstanding team in its midst. Local rivals, Millwall and Crystal Palace, were among the pre-season favourites for relegation but both are at the top end of the table and will fancy their chances of promotion.

As Reading proved a year ago, there is no reason why a club can not embark on a run in the New Year that ends in promotion. Consistency, sticking to the game plan and avoiding unforced errors are the key.

Powell appears to be still searching for his most effective line-up and formation. The vast majority of the squad are happiest in a traditional 4-4-2 shape and their recent good run was when they utilised that shape, with the pace of Danny Haynes up front, a vital component.

Last year’s success was based on consistency of both shape and personnel and a return to that tried and trusted formula could yet transform Charlton’s fortunes. With money rumoured to be available in January, some shrewd acquisitions would give the Addicks a real fillip.

Next up are Ipswich, who Charlton beat more comfortably than the 2-1 scoreline suggests. That was at Portman Road in September, since then the Tractor Boys have replaced Paul Jewell. Bromley resident, Mick McCarthy, is now at the helm and Ipswich have rallied of late.

They have been beaten heavily in a couple of their recent games on the road, losing 6-0 at Leicester and 5-0 at Palace. Ipswich have a group of talented players who failed to gel as a team under Jewell. Whether their recent improved form is down to ‘new manager syndrome’ or a sign of better things to come, time will tell.

Powell will have Dale Stephens available again after serving a one match suspension at Hillsborough but must do without Lawrie Wilson, who picked up his fifth yellow of the campaign on Saturday. The Addicks started brightly and the game may have taken a different course had Salim Kerkar managed to convert Wilson’s excellent cross in the early minutes of the game.

Powell started with a 4-4-2 line-up against Wednesday and may stick with it on Wednesday. Back-to-back wins at The Valley against Ipswich and Derby would propel the Addicks up the table.

Bradley Pritchard and Danny Green will vie for the wide right berth and Kerkar may step down, with Jackson reverting to the left. Rob Hulse and Ricardo Fuller will be pushing Yann Kermorgant for a starting place.

Powell may opt for this side:

Hamer; Solly, Cort, Morrison, Seaborne; Pritchard, Stephens, Frimpong, Jackson; Hulse, Haynes

Subs: Sullivan, Dervite, Green, Kerkar, Kermorgant, Fuller, Wright-Phillips.

The referee will be Hertfordshire’s Mick Russell.

If Powell plays an up tempo game, his team will have every chance of returning to winning ways.