Oxford United v Charlton Athletic
Good Friday … 1pm Kick-Off
Referee: Darren Drysdale (Lincolnshire)
Introduction
There have been a number of occasions this season
where the Addicks have been forced to show their character in coming from a
goal down to seal the three points… For the first time in three attempts
Charlton would concede first against a top six rival and still record a win,
that coming against Luton on Saturday would be one of the performances of the
season and so keep alive our hopes of automatic promotion – Yet we now come to
the last serious hurdle of the regular season; the Easter Period!!... With two
games in four days it’s a time that can either make or break a season; it
begins with a short trip up the M40 to Oxford United
The Opposition
Name: Oxford United | Manager: Karl Robinson
Ground: Kassam Stadium
Of course our opponents need little introduction and
with Karl Robinson at the helm are well known to Addicks fans… For Oxford
though it’s been a season of uncertainty that has petered out into what’ll be a
bland battle for mid-table. It could have been a lot worse though and with just
six points by mid-October we could have been travelling to Oxfordshire visiting
a team on the cusp of relegation, the fact that half the league have been in a
relegation scrap has probably saved Robinson from the chop and look likely to
be at this level once more this time next season
Despite having beaten Luton on Saturday you could
argue that our hardest game is done and dusted yet that appears far from the
truth, the Addicks may lead the form table (which earnt Lee Bowyer a Manager of
the Month nomination) yet the same can be said for Oxford who sit two places
lower in that table having conceded the same amount of goals (two) in the last
six games… Facing a team who remain undefeated in the League against Charlton
over the last six encounters (D4 | L2), this could be our hardest test yet!!
Charlton Team News
The good news this midweek is the fact that both
Lewis Page and Jake Forster-Caskey made successful returns to match action by
appearing in their first U23 game this calendar year, unfortunately both will
remain short of fitness for some time so cant be relied upon this Friday yet
the fact remains that Charlton largely have a fully fit squad going into the
business end of the season.
Saturday against Luton was a stern test and Bowyer
was proved right in his match selection from the Wycombe game by resting key
players; Krystian Bielik and Igor Vetokele were both withdrawn before the end
with cramp yet should hopefully be available for the next handful of fixtures –
With Scunthorpe approaching on Easter Monday it’ll be up to the backroom staff
to once again decide which game takes precedence yet with Oxford higher in the
league you’d be surprised if its not this one.
Comments
I honestly think that if we can beat Oxford we will go on and win our remaining games to finish on 91 points.
Feeling optomistic so 3.1 Charlton.
1-1. Oxford equalise in the 89th minute and Robinson sprints wobbles down the touchline Mourinhoesque in celebration, only to have to give up after 10 yards when he gives himself a stitch.
Holmes... No - He's @ Gillingham now yet hasnt played for them
Oxford has an international reputation for people who are dead clever, I hope they are clever enough not to get in the way of the Addicks promotion juggernaut.
3-0 to Charlton
either
Kashi deflected thunderbolt
or
in off Igor’s bum
The pessimist in me keeps imagining a late winner for Oxford and a lardy Liverpudlian charging down the touchline. However, we've got an impressive record against Oxford - only one Charlton manager has ever lost a home league game to Oxford (Clues: his first name sort of rhymes with "banal", his last name sounds a bit like "robbing scum"), and we haven't lost an away league fixture at Oxford since 1987, when Karl Robinson was only 7 years old and had presumably only just started learning the basic skills required to shirk responsibility, apportion the blame elsewhere and offer far-fetched excuses for the woeful standard of his school work.
2-1 to Charlton, late winner, delirium in the away end. In your face Karl, in your face!
6 for Purrington.
I can't remember who scored for Oxford