Charlton Athletic v Doncaster Rovers
Saturday 1st December 2018 … 3pm Kick-Off
FA Cup Second Round Proper
IntroductionGawd its irritating isnt it… Have a nice run of cup games in both the FA Cup and Football League Trophy and then find your potential run of form ruined by two needless League games. Well the way the last few weeks have gone it certainly feels as though cup games are priority over the league, purely with the amount that have been played – This Saturday will see the Addicks looking to reach the FA Cup third round where a tie against the big boys could potentially await; the victors of Chorley: Doncaster Rovers are all that stand in our way!!
The OppositionName: Doncaster Rovers |
Manager: Grant McCann
FA Cup 1st Round (Replay): Doncaster Rovers 7-0 Chorley
Seeing that we’ve already faced a League encounter with Donny I thought I’d go down memory lane this week;
The FA Cup has never been a happy competition for Doncaster Rovers; the fifth round (on four occasions over a five year period in the 50s) is the furthest they've ever gotten, yet during their time out of the Championship have only failed to reach the third round on one occasion, losing 2-1 at Oldham Athletic in 2016/17.
Their association with the competition began in the 1924/25 season, losing again 2-1 to Norwich City in the first round... For Charlton that season too is one for the history books as it is our sole FA Cup campaign that saw the Addicks failing to get through the Qualifying Rounds, despite beating Dulwich Hamlet (4-0) in the fifth qualifying round; Walter Rayner and his reds would be defeated by Queens Park Rangers (2-1) in Sixth (and last) Qualifying round that year... QPR would go on to lose in the First Round at the hands of Stockport County whilst Norwich would bow out in the second round against the giants that were Notts County.
Of course as already mentioned, being an all League One affair these two have already met and only met a few weeks ago at the Valley; Doncaster would prove to be a difficult opponent, and with despite Charlton just about deserving the win that day, will no doubt be difficult to beat again this time round.
Charlton Team NewsWhen he made his return in the FA Cup against Mansfield am sure we all thought that an appearance in the league would quickly follow yet for Billy Clarke that hasn’t been the case… Post-Match against Bristol Rovers on Saturday; Lee Bowyer would confirm that Clarke’s only issue at the moment is his rustiness from having been a year out of Football and so wasn’t quite ready for League action – Having been involved again for the U23s midweek you’d expect the important playmaker to try and improve his match sharpness against the type of opposition he’ll be coming up against on a weekly basis.
Elsewhere you’d naturally expect Chris Solly to take a rest so he can be prioritised for League games whilst Patrick Bauer only now back from injury could also be rested so that he’s fresh for two vital games coming up in the next few weeks – One player back in the squad will surely be the cup specialist: Toby Stevenson, having been on the bench for the last two fixtures will see Saturday as a good chance for him to reclaim third spot in the goal scoring charts having by ousted by Joe Aribo.
Phillips
Dijksteel | Bielik | Sarr | Stevenson
Marshall | Clarke | Lapslie | Fosu
Ajose | Taylor
Substitutes Bench: Steer | Pearce | Morgan | Grant | Hackett-Fairchild
PredictionFollowing the end of the first Mansfield tie; Bowyer would confirm that the draw was the worst possible outcome for the side – On this occasion a draw may be the best outcome as it would mean another re-arrangement of the Portsmouth game, defeat though wouldn’t be the end of the world and so allow the Addicks to concentrate on the main prize in May!!
Comments
Does he rest a few players and not risk anymore injuries?
I'm going to this game and it would be nice to see us win and get a good draw in the third round.
On the other hand I am also going to Blackpool next week and that is far more important in my opinion.
3.1 Charlton.
In Bowyer we trust.
Having said that they quite impressed me in the first period of the league match - and of course could also depend on the team they put out - as they are also going for promotion. Hard to call, could win but might go to a replay. I'll stick my neck out and go for 2-0 to the Addicks.
My complete guess of the team would be something like:
Dijksteel Bauer Sarr
Marshall Lapslie Clarke Stevenson
Ward
Ajose Taylor
Steer, Pearce, Maloney, Morgan, Reeves, Fosu, Grant
Team could easily switch into a 4-1-2-1-2 with Dijksteel at the base of the diamond and Marshall dropping to right back, if necessary.
On the guess that each side will be a 50/50 split between first team regulars and fringe players, I reckon that we have the stronger all round squad .. therefore:
CAFC 2 v Doncaster Rovers 1 (and Man Utd at home in Round 3)
Optimistic 2-1 us. Taylor & Fosu
I can see it now.
2-1
what will be quite annoying is resting players saturday to be turned over badly by pompey on tuesday.
If Doncaster play a weaken team: draw
If Charlton play 1st team : draw
If Charlton play a weaken team: away win
Conculsion: Doncaster to advance to 3rd round after winning either the match at valley or replay.
2nd conculsion: Dont support Cafc if you want a long cup run.
Can we move on to the League where we need to at least draw two difficult away fixtures.
Bowyer also confirmed that – like for Charlton’s first-round clash against Mansfield Town – he is set to make a number of changes to his team for the game.
He said: “It gives opportunities to other players to get some minutes and a chance for some to show that they're ready for when we need them.
“We'll still be going out there to try and give 100 per cent and to win the game. That's the way they are and that's the way I am.
https://www.cafc.co.uk/news/view/5bfff29735da3/charlton-midfielder-to-return-for-charltons-emirates-fa-cup-tie-against-doncaster-rovers
I hope we put out a strong team and try and get it won in 90mins. If we can some minutes under Clarke and Reeves would be a huge bonus for us.
To anyone going, I won’t be myself, just be prepared for a much changed team, but still hopefully strong enough to progress because a big tie in the third round would be great for us fans and the club.
It's not as if we're unique, Doncaster had a cup replay last Tuesday followed by 2 league games. Indeed they're in good form at the moment.
Bauer may be back from a long injury break, but to me he's more physically mature than Bielik, so playing the latter might be more of a risk.
1-1
Bring on round tree