Cheltenham Town v Charlton Athletic
Tuesday 5th March 2024 - Kick-Off: 19:45
Referee
Scott Jackson - never officiated a Charlton game before. Having worked his way up the leagues, this is likely to be Jackson's highest profile fixture to date. Other fixtures at this level have included Bristol Rovers and Exeter City, both at home against Barnsley earlier on in the season.
Introduction
What looks like probably my last preview of the season, it would only be right that another individual error cost up 3 crucial points at the weekend, one of the few things you can really say that sums up our season. The amount of goals we have conceded through huge individual errors is a concern, but it's something that I am sure will become far less frequent under Nathan Jones. The performance on the whole at Northampton was controlled, to be honest, I thought the Cobblers were cobblers, and Alfie May came close on more than one occasion to extend our lead after starboy Karoy Anderson continued his fine run of form by scoring two in two. As it is though, we currently sit 18th and 4 points above the drop zone. Next up we travel to the club sitting just in it, Cheltenham Town.
Opposition
Stadium: Whaddon Road
Manager: Darrell Clarke
Nickname(s): The Robins
Previous result: A 0-0 draw at home with Burton Albion. Their line up was:
Southwood
Smith - Davies - Bradbury
Long - Sercombe - Pett - Kinsella - Ferry
Taylor - Lloyd
Since Darrell Clarke took over at the end of September, Cheltenham have won a third of their games and been competitive at home against some of the better sides in the division. Wins against Portsmouth, Oxford, and Blackpool have been supported with draws against Derby and Reading. Straight away, this is a fixture that not only is an important and tough game because of both clubs league positions, but Clarke has made Whaddon Road a difficult place to go and pick up points for the away side.
The January window saw The Robins lose Will Goodwin to Oxford United, the striker scored their goal against us at The Valley in November in our 2-1 win, the last win at The Valley, and second to last win after our recent victory in Derbyshire last week. However, Clarke signed a couple of players he's worked with previously, one being Matty Taylor in the hope that the experienced striker would score enough goals to keep them up - and it's been a productive start to life with 4 in 7. He's definitely going to be a player that we have to keep an eye on and keep quiet. The other Liam Kinsella. The combative midfielder is son of Mark, so will know all about his father's connections with Charlton and will be looking to make an impact himself on Tuesday evening. Liam though, has had most of his success at Walsall where he won two player of the season awards; most of his career has been played at the bottom half of League One or in League Two.
In my opinion, the thing that provides Cheltenham with a chance of staying up is experience. Curtis Davies, Liam Sercombe, and Matty Taylor through their spine alongside a good manager at the bottom half of this league will help the rest of the squad play at a standard on a more consistent basis. Add in the mix of Sean Long at right wing-back, you have a few leaders that will push the younger players along. However, if we beat Cheltenham on Tuesday evening, it will put a 7 point gap between us and the bottom 4 with Cheltenham's next three fixtures after us against Oxford, Barnsley and Peterborough. It's a must win game for both sides.
Charlton Team News
Lloyd Jones returns from his suspension and I expect him to slot straight back into the centre of defence with Gillesphey moving to the bench. The left-footed defender has done well and started to grow into the side, but a management of minutes could be on the cards which will see Thomas move over to left centre-back. Watson came off again near the end of the game at Northampton but we saw the return of Michael Hector instead of Asiimwe with REG moving to the wing-back role. With that in mind, I think as long as Watson can get through the majority of the game, Hector will be on the bench and REG could move back over if necessary.
Aneke and Camara were rested to manage their minutes after the pair have spent large chunks of the season injured. The impact of Aneke was missed in the second half against Northampton and as long as he's ready to go for our trip to Cheltenham, he'll come off the bench and play a good half hour. It will be interesting to see how many changes Jones makes to the midfield and up front. Dobson and Coventry are similar players but at times on Saturday I felt we lacked that bit of athleticism that Camara would bring and with being completely rested, does that mean the intention is for him to start alongside one of Dobson or Coventry? Alife May rarely starts two games in a row now under Jones, but against his former side and his first return since joining us in the summer, he'll be right up for it and looking to make amends after his missed chances on Saturday.
I have gone for just the one change to the team that started against Northampton, but I do think there will be at least one more...
Isted
REG - Jones - Thomas
Watson - Dobson - Coventry - Small
Anderson
Kanu - May
Maynard-Brewer, Hector, Gillesphey, Edun, Camara, Ladapo, Aneke
Cheltenham Town 0-2 Charlton Athletic
May
Aneke
Comments
Also, we don't need 2 centre backs on the bench so Bakinson in for one of them, probably Gillesphey.
It's possible that Bakinson may start.
Gillisphey is coming into form, and whether he plays or not may be down to how quickly he has recovered from Northampton. They might want to keep his momentum going, if at all possible.
REG is another player whose form is a massive bonus. The January window is beginning to look much more positive than it did in Frebruary.
Bakinson
Coventry
Gillephey
Edmonds-Green
Ramsay
and Small are all beginning to look like good, or very good, signings. Fiorini perhaps less so, and the jury is still out on Ladapo.
We need to be more ruthless up top to join our new direct, aggressive way of playing.
Saying that, I do think we will win but it will be a hard graft!
2-0 ( Kanu & Ladapo)
Thomas was good Sat but he panics and hoofs it. I think Reg, Jones and MG is a more composed back three.
And think Camara may come back into midfield so we start with the 3 that started v Derby.
If Aneke can so much as walk onto the pitch, get him on the bench!
Think this one is pivotal. Win this and I do think we will just go from strength to strength and climb away. Lose? I dont even want to imagine.
Draw would mean jumping two spots to 16th.
Lose and we stay in 18th but back to only one point separating us from the bottom four.
We need fresh legs in midfield, so I'd bring Bakinson back in for Anderson, even if it leaves our midfield a bit workmanlike. Camara still seems a bit off the pace at the moment, so I worry about starting him.
Chuks doesn’t need to run around to get the ball and keep two or three opposition defenders occupied because the ball goes to him (and he controls it) and those defenders never leave his side
He won't start
That poor predicting form in mind, I can only see a Desmond in this one. Keep that gap in play…
Alfie May to score against his old club and not celebrate.
6 points from the next 2 😀
A win would be tremendous.