The Addicks ‎kick-off their 2020/2021 league campaign at newly promoted Crewe on Saturday, with prospective new owner, Thomas Sandgaard, in the stand.

Sandgaard will also watch the Carabao Cup game at West Ham on Tuesday, before flying back to Colorado the next day.

It will be another unusual season – it is starting a month later than normal with the first four rounds of the Carabao Cup crammed into this month for example. 

And it is difficult to see how even a limited number of fans will be admitted to grounds before Christmas. Football without fans loses so much of its excitement.

But it will be a season of hope for Charlton supporters. The long running ownership saga looks like being satisfactorily settled in the next few days. 

And given reasonable luck with injuries, there is no reason why the team  can not mount a serious challebge for a speedy return to the Championship.

There is still much to be done on the recruitment front, particularly in defence. Currently, Lee Bowyer has no recognised right-back and only one fit senior central defender.

He is still restricted by the EFL transfer embargo, but once the takeover is completed, Bowyer will be able to quickly add some new faces to his squad.
The manager may opt for a 4-3-3 system at Gresty Road on Saturday. Though he still favours a patient, possession style of play, Bowyer has also used pacy, more direct tactics recently.

‎His starting line-up may look something like this:

Amos; Lapslie, Barker, Oshilaja, Purrington; Forster-Caskey, Pratley, Gilbey; Washington, Bonne, Doughty.

Subs: Maynard-Brewer,Vennings, Morgan, Levitt, Oztumer, Williams, Aneke, Davison.

The referee will be Graham Salisbury of Lancashire.

With plenty of attack minded options available from the bench, Bowyer will be disappointed if his team do not make a winning start.