Just nine weeks after the final league game of the season against Bristol City at The Valley, the Addicks are back in action on Saturday.

They will make the short trip to Park View Road for the annual curtain raiser against Welling.

The game seems likely to be played in heat wave conditions. Charlton will fly to Spain next week for a training camp and matches against a Gibralter XI on Wednesday, and St Mirren in Malaga next Saturday.

On their return to England, Chris Powell will have games against AFC Wimbledon, Portsmouth, Dagenham & Redbrige and Inverness Caledonian Thistle to fine tune his troops for the new season.

Mark Gower is the club’s only signing so far but Richard Wood will be involved in the game at Welling. Powell had this to say about Wood:

“He came in on Tuesday, so he’s had three days with us.

“We’re just having a look at him and he’s having a look at us. He’s fitted in well though. He’s training to get up to speed, so we’ll just see how it goes.

“He’s captain material and he’s a bit of a leader who has got a lot of games behind him. He’ll be involved at Welling and we’ll see how it goes from there.”

Wood was part of the Sheffield Wednesday first team for eight seasons before his move to Coventry in 2009.

The club have confirmed Bradley Wright-Phillips’ departure from The Valley, leaving Powell short of experienced striking options. Ghanaian, John Cofie, may be given an opportunity to impress at Welling.

Given the short time the players have been back in training, and the predicted stifling conditions, it is unlikely any player will be given more than 45 minutes at Park View Road.

Powell will play completely different teams in each half and if any players are carrying niggles they will not be risked at this stage. The two teams are likely to come from the following:

Hamer, Button, Solly, Cousins, Morrison, Dervite, Cort, Wood, Wiggins, Fox, Green, Wilson, Hughes, Jackson, Stephens, Pritchard, Gower, Jordan, Hollands, Harriott, Cook, Kermorgant, Smith, Pigott, Azzez, Cofie.

It may well be just a gentle loosener for what lies ahead, but Powell will still want his team to come away with a victory.