Once the first ten games of the season have been played, it is a good indication of what sort of season a club may have. Charlton were fast out of the blocks last season and never looked back.

This time around, they opened with an impressive performance at Birmingham followed by a Valley victory over Leicester. The subsequent two games against Hull and Forest have seen a dip in performance. Whether this proves to be a blip remains to be seen.

The eagerly anticipated derby with Crystal Palace will be played against an Eagles side buoyed by a win over Sheffield Wednesday. They will also be boosted by the deadline day signing of Blackburn’s David Goodwillie on loan. Goodwillie was thought to have been on Charlton’s radar in the summer.

After Palace, the Addicks face two away games, a midweek trip to Pride Park to face Derby followed by a trip to Paul Jewell’s Ipswich.

The brace of away games precedes two fixtures in a week at The Valley. First up will be highly fancied Blackburn before the Addicks face Gianfranco Zola’s Waftford. The last of the six fixtures will see Charlton travel to Ian Holloway’s Blackpool.

Palace may be a tougher proposition than they looked a week or so ago. Derby and Ipswich will be away games where Chris Powell and his staff will feel confident of getting some kind of result.

The last three of the fixtures will be really tough with Watford possibly affording the best opportunity of a win.

Despite the ongoing unrest at Ewood Park, Blackburn will be a tough nut to crack and Bloomfield Road is always a hard place to get a result.

If the Addicks hold their own in this batch of games, Powell will be happy abou their prospects for the rest of the campaign.

Any emergency loans brought in after the Blackburn game will be able to be converted to season long loans or permanent deals in January without the players involved needing to return to their parent clubs first.