A solid defence is the bedrock on which all successful teams are built, and Charlton have spent much of the summer putting their’s together.

Stephen Henderson is as good as any keeper in the Championship but he does have persistent injury problems.

A shoulder injury kept him out of the side for thirteen games last season, and the Addicks failed to win during that spell.

Henderson returned early from the trip to Belgium, as the club did not want to risk him on Sint-Truiden’s 3G pitch. Ironically, he was injured during the warm-up prior to the Dulwich Hamlet game, thought to be a safer choice.

Again, it was a shoulder injury, but this time it was his other one. It is a similar injury to last season, so Guy Luzon’s comment that his top keeper will miss the first month of the season could prove to be optimistic.

Nick Pope started last season as Henderson’s deputy, and was given his chance to establish himself in the side when the Irishman was injured.

He had some good games, coupled with some indifferent ones. Bob Peeters elevated Neil Etheridge above Pope, but the subsequent arrival of Marko Dmitrovic saw Pope fall further down the pecking order.

Pope was loaned out to Bury for the second half of the season. Effectively, he had become Charlton’s fourth choice keeper.

Right now, he is the only fit senior keeper at the club, with young Dimitar Mitov being his understudy.

The experienced Stuart Taylor has been training with the club for the past week, and clearly the Addicks need to sign another keeper to cover for Henderson’s absence. Taylor is no stranger to injury either, so Charlton will need to think carefully before making a decision.

Henderson is a vocal keeper who organises his defence well. It is this ability that the Addicks will miss.

German central defender, Patrick Bauer, will be Luzon’s defensive rock and he will be partnered by either new arrival, Naby Sarr, or Alou Diarra.

Luzon has a surfeit of left-backs to choose from – Morgan Fox, Rhoys Wiggins, Tareiq Holmes-Dennis and Zakarya Bergdich.

The right side of the defence is a different matter though. Chris Solly is the only senior right-back currently on the club’s books, but his on-going knee problems will restrict the number of appearances he can make.

Young Aaron Barnes and outcast, Loic Nego, would appear to be the most likely deputies, but neither made the trip to Bolton on Friday.

Talented academy midfielder, Regan Charles-Cook, played on the right side of defence at the Macron.

The official line was that Solly was rested on Friday, but this seems unlikely. He had not played for six days, and Luzon was anxious to field the team he had in mind to face Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.

The most likely reason for Solly’s non-appearance was that he picked up a knock in training. Hopefully, it will be nothing serious, but the club may have to consider their options during the week.

The ideal stand-in did play at the Macron on Friday. Unfortunately, Lawrie Wilson plays for Bolton these days.