Charlton Athletic v Ipswich TownSaturday 17th April 2021 ... 12:30pm Kick-OffReferee: Craig HicksCraig Hicks was the man in charge when the Addicks travelled to Ipswich this season which earned him a Statbank rating of: 6.46... Mr Hicks also took charge of Oxford's trip to the Valley so Ryan Inniss will surely be delighted to renew his aquaintance after earning two very quick bookings in that game.IntroductionIf its felt like a month of Saturdays since our last game here in South East London, then well its because it has been a month since a ball was kicked in anger here at the Valley... Bristol Rovers would be vanquished that Tuesday evening, since that remarkable turn around its been one road trip after another, firstly with a draw in South West London, followed by back to back victories at the homes of our Play-Off rivals. Victory at Sunderland last Saturday has certainly revived our own promotion dreams, and another opportunity to put pressure on those around us arrives from Suffolk this weekend.
Three more points and that mythical run of form may be here
The OppositionName: Ipswich Town (9th) | Manager: Paul CookGround: Portman RoadPrevious Meeting: Ipswich Town 0-2 Charlton AthleticThere are currently two teams at this level who are an indictment of what League One is all about, both Sunderland and Ipswich Town have found themselves in the third tier of English Football for the first time in many years of late and both, like Charlton or Sheffield United are showing how difficult it is to get out of this Division (the right way) if you dont succeed first time around.
The Addicks would travel to Portman Road last November looking to revive their October form and also recover from a nightmare trip to Burton Albion just days beforehand; Albie Morgan and Chuks Aneke would effectively run the show that Saturday afternoon with the former obtaining the first all important goal. Of course for the hosts it didnt help that they were in their own injury crisis with the likes of Gwion Edwards and Jon Nolan already absent from the team, whilst top scorer: James Norwood would depart early in the game with a hamstring injury.
Since that game, Ipswich (like ourselves) have replaced their Manager although for our visitors it was out of choice rather than enforced... Paul Cook has taken charge yet results havent improved, in fact you could argue they've gotten worse what with losing 3-0 at AFC Wimbledon in midweek - It was a performance that will see Josh Harrop absent from the team after picking up a straight red card, whilst we could see other wholesale changes to the Ipswich team come Saturday afternoon.
Paul Cook's comments certainly didnt paint many in a very good light, thats for sure...
"You've just seen most of these players playing their last game in an Ipswich shirt"Charlton Team NewsSince Nigel Adkins has arrived we've seen a slight upturn in performances with last Saturday showing the Addicks were organised enough to ensure that Sunderland couldnt get the all important equaliser, and more importantly, never really looked like getting it for all their huff and puff towards the end of that game.
Part of that is down to the fact that he's kept a settled team, although could be forced into making changes this Saturday; Ian Maatsen was withdrawn after sixty six minutes on Saturday due to an issue with his hip so could well be rested, Liam Millar would no doubt be the obvious replacement with Diallang Jaiyesimi on the other flank. One issue for Sunderland was the fact that their defence allowed Jayden Stockley to drop deep and win balls uncontested, Ipswich did similar with Chuks Aneke in the reverse game so could well be an opportunity for Alex Gilbey to carry on from where he left off last time out.
Amos
Matthews - Inniss - Pearce - Purrington
Forster-Caskey - Pratley
Millar - Gilbey - Jaiyesimi
Stockley
Substitutes Bench: Maynard-Brewer - Oshilaja - Gunter - Maatsen - Watson - Shinnie - Schwartz
PredictionPrior to the game against Sunderland I was genuinely confident that we could pick up a win, our opponents that day were going into the game having been unbeaten for some time so that run had to end... Ipswich on the other hand havent won in three games, they've only lost the one game but Paul Cook will be looking for a response, in addition they've played a game more so to hand three points to Charlton could effectively seal their doom at this level for the 2020/21 season.
I fully expect Ipswich to come out of the blocks fighting, lets be patient and exploit the space they hand us.
Comments
Our home form has been our achilles heel all season, and although it feels like Adkins has steadied the ship somewhat, for a long time we have failed to perform well in games when the onus is more on us to dictate play.
If one thing league one has taught us is that everyone can beat everyone, and although it's not looking great for Ipswich currently I expect they won't roll over especially when they still have a play off chance as well.
I hope to see a confident, high tempo, performance from us, somewhat like the first half against AFC Wimbledon. I imagine Ipswich will play very compact and want to keep it tight, which are the games we end up looking really poor in.
I like and expect your team FA though I would swap Millar + Jaiyesimi personally.
Subs bench gets those same tweaks I suggested last week (Providing Aneke is fit this week).
Also if Maatsen is injured, I'd stick Morgan up there with Smith on the bench in his place.
Good to see Washington is back out on the grass though!!
I don’t think goal difference matters anymore, just get those 3 points.
This really is the definition of a must win game.
Win this and we give our chances of reaching the playoffs a huge boost while killing of Ipswich chances at the same time.
3.0 Charlton and we keep the dream alive.
Link to the Ipswich fans preview ahead of this game, majority of their fans predict a Charlton win at the time of posting this
Millar needs to show he has a ruthless streak and something to prove else I can't see him getting a gig at the level he probably wants to be part of. Be direct with goals and assists.
Charlton 0-1 Ipswich
For the first time since November I'm quite confident.
The Red Adder has sorted us out whereas Cook has undermined the players publicly in late Bowyeresque style.
If we get in their faces and set the tempo we will win.
Chuks, Famewo, Washington, possibly Maatsen out.
With Sat/Tues matches from now until the end of the season, it's a worry.
Tractor fiddlers struggling?
The Addicks have a solution for you.
Home disfunction continues with a Desmond.
2-2
Cant remember if he then gave an explanation as to why he wasnt even on the bench last week