MATCH PREVIEW: Charlton Athletic vs Birmingham City - Saturday 7th March 2026 - 3pm Kick-Off

Charlton Athletic vs Birmingham City
Saturday 7th March 2026 - 3pm Kick-Off
Referee: James Linington

Introduction
Charlton play host to Birmingham City this coming Saturday looking to return to a bit of form that had previously seen us losing just the once in six games. Wrexham, as they have done in recent years just didn't read the script ahead of our last encounter and escaped South East London with three points, courtesy of a solitary goal.

The Opposition
Name: Birmingham City (12th) - Manager: Chris Davies
Ground: St. Andrews
Previous Result: Millwall 3-0 Birmingham

Once again the fixture list has throw out a strange sequence of fixtures for both the home, and away team, this coming weekend... For the visitors its back to back weekends in the South East of London, having recently lost 3-0 at the Den, for the Addicks its back to back games against old friends from League One.

Given their spending power in the third tier, you'd have expected Birmingham to have done better this campaign, I mean its not over by any means of the imagination, they sit in 12th, yet are still "only" eight points from the Play-Offs, a game that is entirely manageable in the EFL. However if Birmingham want to reach the Play-Offs, then they need to start closing the points deficit fast, especially on an FA Cup weekend that'll see Wrexham (in 6th) absent from from Championship action this Saturday.

It is however the Away form for the Blues that has perhaps let them down this season, the Addicks left the Midlands with a share of the spoils back in December; Tyreece Campbell scoring his first goal of the season in what was ultimately a 1-1 draw... and whilst Birmingham have lost just the sole game at St. Andrews this season, they've lost 10 on the road... that's more defeats away from home than their hosts this coming Saturday!! - Birmingham do come into the game with form though, despite losing at the Den last week, they've five wins, and three draws from their previous nine fixtures.

In terms of head2head and the Addicks have 24-wins, including a 1-0 goal, courtesy of Matty Godden at the Valley season... Birmingham themselves have 21-wins against the Addicks... Their last win at the Valley coming in 2019, another 1-0 score line, this time coming from a certain: Jude Bellingham.

Charlton Team News
Thomas Kaminski was the notable absentee against Wrexham, the ever present Goalkeeper was missing last weekend with a hamstring injury, with Will Mannion making his debut in the Championship... You'd expect the Belgian 'keeper to be absent once again this weekend with Mannion remaining between the sticks. Elsewhere and Reece Burke was brought into the eleven, making the briefest of returns, before he too was cruelly struck down with injury again. It meant more minutes from the bench for the impressing: Collins Sichenje, who along with Luke Chambers and Conor Coady, could make a return to the starting eleven.

There will be nervous glances at Lloyd Jones, who cant afford another booking if he wants to avoid a two match ban... Those fears will wiped clean come the end of the Oxford match in two games time.

Mannion
Ramsay - Jones - Bell
Clarke - Coady - Carey - Chambers
Berry
Campbell - Dykes

Substitutes: Brooks - Sichenje - Gillesphey - Docherty - Fevrier - Coventry - Costello - Leaburn - Kelman