IntroductionA 2-0 victory over Doncaster at the Swimming Gala on Tuesday night gave the Addicks a vital gold medal which helped push Chris Powell’s men six points adrift from the relegation zone.
Although the Addicks played really well, Doncaster weren’t much of a threat and never really looked like scoring. Saturday should be a different scenario as Charlton face Mick McCarthy’s Ipswich Town at the Valley.
The OppositionIpswich’s inconsistency has been their main flaw so far this season as the Tractor Boys have managed to win five times but have also lost six games meaning that Mick McCarthy’s side are currently sitting in a mid-table spot of 12th place.
Only one of those victories have come away from home and that actually occurred in their last away fixture against Blackpool when a last minute winner from Daryl Murphy secured a 3-2 victory.
Ipswich do have a few players within their squad that could cause a few problems for Charlton with names such as Stephen Hunt, Daryl Murphy and David McGoldrick all pretty well-known within the Championship. There may also be a place in the first-team for ex-Addick Carl Leaburn….I mean Frank Nouble, who endured an unsuccessful loan spell with the Addicks in 2011.
Player to WatchThe player to watch this weekend is Ipswich’s David McGoldrick. The Tractor Boys forward has already scored seven goals this season and the ex-Forest man will be looking to add to that tally this weekend. He is a typical goalscorer who ends up in the right place at the right time and has the pace to get behind defenders as well as the skill to cause a few problems.
He can also score a screamer or two as this clip shows (plus it's against Palace) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpNqhH_rEAYThe Line –UpAfter Tuesday’s impressive display, I doubt there is much that Chris Powell will be looking to change ahead of this weekend’s game.
However, the injury in the warm-up to Ben Hamer on Tuesday night saw a début starting spot for Ben Alnwick and no substitute keeper on the bench. If Hamer is available, then I would expect him to return to the starting eleven.
Richard Wood will be pushing for starting spot ahead of Dorian Dervite on Saturday as he made a return to the squad on Tuesday night with a place on the bench. Leon Cort and Chris Solly will not be available again due to their respected injuries.
The presence of Cameron Stewart on the right-side of midfield certainly made a difference against Doncaster, so he should retain his spot there, while Johnnie Jackson will probably hold down his left-hand side/central midfield spot.
Yann Kermorgant should be up-front again for the Addicks after he completed 90 minutes against Doncaster and his strike-partner Simon Church will continue after scoring his fifth league goal of the season in midweek.
The PredictionTough one to call this, I’m going for a 1-1 draw with Kermorgant scoring for the Addicks.
Comments
CAFC 3 v Ipswich Town 1
2 - 0 and Sasa Ilic in the Directors' Box to remind us of glorious victories over Ipswich in the past
2-1 win
Church brace
On the strength of that we'll lose and he'll be put off for life
0-3 to the tractor boys
I suspect their good one and another step backwards for us so we can start a new thread on why loan players what not bought in.
Kick in the nuts time 0-2 to the Tractor Boys...
Kermorgant hasn't scored for a while so I reckon he'll score
Charlton 5-1 Ipswich
Anything better than that will be wonderful!
Kermorgant and Cousins.
Was just thinking I would love it if Sordell were to go home as he has had enough time now.
Then we got Obika on loan and still had BWP.
Kerms
Church
Obika
BWP
That is a mid table strike force
I'm going for a Desmond .
2-2
Directors box photo's as well hopefully.Should be interesting.
Really hope we can start building up some momentum on Saturday