Barnsley v Charlton Athletic
Saturday 29th December 2018 … 3pm Kick-Off
Referee: Darren Bond (Lancashire)
IntroductionSo that’s one down, three to go… Some people within the Sport may feel that the festive period is too congested with games yet for the purists its one of the greatest aspects of the English game – Yesterday saw the Addicks making the trip up to the Midlands for a clash with Coventry City, once again though saw us getting a dose of déjà vu, and just like at the Valley would see Coventry keeping the three points at the death!!
There is no time to dwell on the result though as Lee Bowyer and his men travel further north this Saturday; Yorkshire is the destination, and Charlton themselves will this time being looking for a repeat from earlier this season as they face the first of their promotion chasing opponents this period.
The OppositionName: Barnsley |
Manager: Daniel Stendel
Ground: Oakwell
As things stand at the moment; October was never a great month for the Addicks as they would go on to record just the sole victory and so end the month trapped in mid-table – The one bright point in that dark month was the victory recorded over Barnsley; Karlan Grant would get a double that day and so consign the Tykes to just their second defeat of the season!!
Its been a poor couple of months since that defeat at the Valley for our opponents – Barnsley would instantly follow up that defeat with a second in a few days (losing 3-1 at Shrewsbury), as one of the strongest teams in the Division though they steadied the ship yet two further defeats against Sunderland and Wycombe have meant that they’ve dropped away from the automatic slots and even (briefly) dropped out of the Play-Offs… Undefeated in three games now though (which includes a draw with Portsmouth and win over Peterborough) means that a win on Saturday will see them leap frogging the Addicks back into fourth spot!!
Ensuring that doesn’t happen is going to be a tough ask for Lee Bowyer and his men… Undefeated at Oakwell this season; Barnsley have conceded just the seven goals at home and will look to keep their home a fortress for the rest of the season and so make an instant return to the Championship – They should beware though, they face a Manager this Saturday who seemingly knows how to get his players to rise to the challenge of the big teams!!
Charlton Team NewsInjuries certainly feel like déjà vu for Lee Bowyer this season!!... Joe Aribo would be substituted against Gillingham last weekend and fan hopes that it would be a short lay off were quickly destroyed after the Coventry game yesterday; Bowyer would confirm that Charlton are a club that don’t do short lay offs and so Aribo will now be absent for the foreseeable future!!
It means that our Midfield is down to its bare bones and with Lapslie getting a second concussion yesterday it means he too will be unavailable again on the weekend – the one bonus is the potential return of loanee: Jamie Ward; Bowyer would stipulate after the Gillingham clash that he was close to a return so hopefully that will come this weekend to aid the Addicks in what’ll be a big match
Steer
Dijksteel | Bauer | Pearce | Solly
Reeves | Pratley | Bielik
Fosu
Grant | Taylor
Substitutes Bench: Phillips | Stevenson | Sarpong-Wiredu | Ward | Morgan | Marshall | Ajose
PredictionThis is gonna be a toughie... Make no bones about it!! – Thankfully it should be one of the last real tough games of the season as the majority of our promotion rivals (bar Peterborough) now have to visit the Valley – Three points may have been dropped yesterday but would certainly accept that if it means we can be the first to bring maximum back from Barnsley!!
Comments
They play a 4-2-3-1 with a striker up front in Moore who scores goals. We must adapt for this game to give ourselves a chance.
I’d hope to see something like the team I am going to now name, but I know we won’t. I think Dijksteel could really give us a bit of dynamic style in the midfield. Be surprised to see Ward back in the squad but we can hope. If he is, it’s for Morgan.
Bielik Bauer Pearce
Marshall Dijksteel Pratley Solly
Reeves
Taylor Grant
Phillips, Stevenson, Sarpong-Wiredu, Morgan, Fosu, Ajose, Hackett-Fairchild
Barnsley 1-1 Charlton Athletic
Use the buzzer by the entrance to the left of the big badge
2-0 T'Barnsley
3-0 epic win, 2019 is the year of the addick
Barnsley 1 v CAFC 1
I don't care how good he is because he is hardly ever fit.
Bring in somebody who can actually stay fit we have enough injuries without loanees who miss more games than they play.
Additionally, if Coventry knew how to play us, Barnsley most certainly didn't at The Valley.
Instead of closing us down, they let us play.
Let's hope they do again. 1-1.
Our previous 8'ish games say we can get a result. Get my Wembley ticket Mrs Clb74.