MATCH PREVIEW: Charlton Athletic vs. Hull City... Saturday 25th April 2026 - 12:30pm Kick-Off
Charlton Athletic vs. Hull City
Saturday 25th April 2026 - 12:30pm Kick-Off
Referee: Tom Nield
Introduction
The season is almost done and dusted, just two games remain and we approach the final game of the 2024/25 season at the Valley this coming Saturday. There have been many positives, there have been many negatives... and as we crawl towards the finish line, I've got visions of some little old lady, making difficult work as she crosses the road on her zimmer frame before the light turns to red. Will she make it, or like Charlton Athletic, will she be roadkill on a vehicle, speeding out of control on the way to League One.
The Opposition
Name: Hull City (7th) - Manager: Sergej Jakirovic
Ground: MKM Stadium
Previous League Result: Leicester 2-2 Hull
It would be nice for the last team to visit the Valley to have nothing riding on these last two games, especially as all of sudden there seems to be a lot less teams still in contention for various aspects of the serious placements within the League table, especially for the fight for both the last Play-Off spot and the final spot for relegation.
Hull City make the trip to the Capital well in contention for 6th spot, results on Tuesday mean that they go into this penultimate weekend without the luxury of being in control of their own destiny, a 2-2 draw at Leicester City saw the Foxes relegated from the Championship, but it also allowed Wrexham to leapfrog the Tigers on Goal Difference, and like the relegation battle between Charlton and Oxford, its a slender advantage that Wrexham have.
Our visitors come into this weekend off the back of some disastrous form themselves, which gives us some hope that this could be the game where we snatch the vital point needed to secure Championship Football next term. Hull after all are winless in their last five games, having picked up four draws (two of those coming away at Oxford and Leicester), whilst they've just two victories away from Kingston-Upon-Hull since the end of January... They'll also need to try and secure all three points without their Manager on the touchline, after Sergej Jakirovic was sent off in midweek.
In terms of head2head and Charlton have 19-wins compared to the 10-wins for the Tigers, you have to go back to November 1985 to find the last victory that the visitors secured in South East London, whilst the last four games here at the Valley have equally ended either all square... or they've ended in a Charlton victory.
Charlton Team News
Getting a result against a team in the Premer League last season and currenlty battling to make an instant return to that level was always going to be a challenge in its own right on Wednesday night, but the fact that we came out of that match with three potential injuries to Amari'i Bell, Tyreece Campbell and Matty Godden is far from ideal.
As a result you'd expect to see Macauley Gillesphey with another start at Left Centre-Back, with Luke Chambers back out at Wing-Back. Elsewhere and we may see Jayden Fevrier keeping his place at Right Wing-Back after an impressive performance on Wednesday evening, although Harry Clarke will once again be available after having to sit out the game against his parent club.
Kaminski
Sichenje - Jones - Gillesphey
Fevrier - Coventry - Docherty - Chambers
Costello
Dykes - Kelman
Substitutes: Mannion - Gough - Burke - Clarke - Coady - Knibbs - Carey - Leaburn - Fullah
Comments
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*No little old ladies were "hurt" during the making of this Match Preview... Doris is expected to make a full recovery21
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I think injury/load combined will mean a decent number of changes again. I think Fev was good and his directness might mean Jones is tempted to play him in the TC role. I know he hasn't played there before but he'll provide some extra defensive cover on the left that Kelman wouldn't
Kaminski
Burke - Jones - Gillesphey
Clarke - Coady - Docherty - Chambers
Carey
Dykes - Fevrier6 -
If TC isn’t fit to start, then Fevrier needs to start. Need to have at least one of them on the pitch at all times otherwise we are far too one dimensional in attack
24 -
Home wins, per month
August - 1
September - 1
October - 1
November - 1
December - 1
January - 1
February - 1
March - 1
April - 0 - and this game is remaining32 -
That looks a terrible starting lineup. If Burke and Gillesphey start it will be an interesting afternoon.fenaddick said:I think injury/load combined will mean a decent number of changes again. I think Fev was good and his directness might mean Jones is tempted to play him in the TC role. I know he hasn't played there before but he'll provide some extra defensive cover on the left that Kelman wouldn't
Kaminski
Burke - Jones - Gillesphey
Clarke - Coady - Docherty - Chambers
Carey
Dykes - Fevrier
Just hope Hull play badly and we scape a draw. What an awful end to the season.8 -
Strangely expectant of an amazing result - no basis in logic other than hope Hull’s poor recent form continues. COYA1
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Yeah the defence is a worry but who else plays LCB? And can Sichenje play another 90? NJ said that Burke not playing was load management rather than anything else, made me think he'll start tomorrowhoof_it_up_to_benty said:
That looks a terrible starting lineup. If Burke and Gillesphey start it will be an interesting afternoon.fenaddick said:I think injury/load combined will mean a decent number of changes again. I think Fev was good and his directness might mean Jones is tempted to play him in the TC role. I know he hasn't played there before but he'll provide some extra defensive cover on the left that Kelman wouldn't
Kaminski
Burke - Jones - Gillesphey
Clarke - Coady - Docherty - Chambers
Carey
Dykes - Fevrier
Just hope Hull play badly and we scape a draw. What an awful end to the season.1 -
Kaminski
sichenje Jones coady
Ramsay Clarke Coventry chambers
docherty
dykes fevrier
if all fit - don’t want to see Burke or gillesphy unless others are injured.
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Let's just get over the line. COYA.3
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We're gonna win this one, ain't we...🤔
...PLEASE CHARLTON, Send us home happy for a change with a nice 2-0 score line...🙏4 -
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Mannion
Ramsay
Jones
Coady
Chambers
Fevrier
Doc
Coventry
Carey
Dykes
Kelman
Leaburn and and TC to hopefully make an impact off the bench
🙏🙏🙏
0 -
1-1 draw boring but it’ll do6
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All i've got is "rip the plaster off quickly"
As it's an early kick off, I can get in a bad mood early this weekend.
0-24 -
Can see Clarke coming straight back in along with Coady, Carey and Dykes into the starting eleven.
We have a decent home record against Hull with us being undefeated in our last 6 games.
Score draw tomorrow and championship football in the bag6 -
0-0 with Harry Clarke blazing high and wide from 3 easy opportunities.12
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● Charlton are unbeaten in their last six home league meetings with Hull City (D3 L3) since a 1-2 reverse in November 1985.
● Hull have won three of their last four away league games against London clubs (L1), as many as their previous 16 in the capital beforehand (W3 D7 L6).
● Charlton have won their final home league game in seven of the last nine seasons (D2) since a 0-3 defeat to Burnley in 2015-16.
● Hull haven’t won their final away league game in any of the last 18 seasons (D6 L12) since a 1-0 victory at Cardiff in 2006-07.
● Hull have earned 35 away points in the Championship this season; a win here will make this the most points they have ever earned on the road in a second tier campaign (38, assuming 3 pts/win all-time), a record they set in 2023-24 (37).
https://www.efl.com/news/2026/april/23/sky-bet-championship--pre-match-stat-pack/
2 -
ForeverAddickted said:*No little old ladies were "hurt" during the making of this Match Preview... Doris is expected to make a full recovery
In the summer get you to Southwold and have a Zimmer frame practice session on the pier.3 -
Coady in centre of back 3 tomorrow. We need a calm head and leader. If godden, tc and leaburn are crocked then kelman and dykes it is, maybe without the pressure knowing he'll always be taken off kelman will flourish.....2
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Why would you move Jones, our most consistent perfomer of the season?Mortimerwasgod said:Coady in centre of back 3 tomorrow. We need a calm head and leader. If godden, tc and leaburn are crocked then kelman and dykes it is, maybe without the pressure knowing he'll always be taken off kelman will flourish.....9 -
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Gillesphey should be nowhere the team, even the bench. Gough to play instead if Bell isn't fit.
Leaburn to start over Dykes and Fullah or Carey to start ahead of JRC. I like JRC but he is better at preserving a lead instead of chasing one.
I'll just take a draw and have a party at Swansea. Don't want this going down to the last game of the season.7 -
This to continue tomorrow with a win to the rip-roaring, goal-scoring, super-defensive Addicks.clive said:● Charlton are unbeaten in their last six home league meetings with Hull City (D3 L3) since a 1-2 reverse in November 1985.
● Hull have won three of their last four away league games against London clubs (L1), as many as their previous 16 in the capital beforehand (W3 D7 L6).
● Charlton have won their final home league game in seven of the last nine seasons (D2) since a 0-3 defeat to Burnley in 2015-16.
● Hull haven’t won their final away league game in any of the last 18 seasons (D6 L12) since a 1-0 victory at Cardiff in 2006-07.
● Hull have earned 35 away points in the Championship this season; a win here will make this the most points they have ever earned on the road in a second tier campaign (38, assuming 3 pts/win all-time), a record they set in 2023-24 (37).
https://www.efl.com/news/2026/april/23/sky-bet-championship--pre-match-stat-pack/
CAFC 1 (CK) Hull 0
But please, please, PLEASE Nathan ... play the quick (for us) attacking game that we started with on Wednesday evening and don't just hoof it up to a big lump in Dykes because that is such a slow method of play and we aren't very good at it.
Try and give us some hope for next year and beyond ...
3 -
Ref's name is an anagram of 'toil mend' which I take to mean that we've made hard work of the last few weeks or so but that we're going to fix it tomorrow.
Please help me.7 -
Exactly.fenaddick said:
Why would you move Jones, our most consistent perfomer of the season?Mortimerwasgod said:Coady in centre of back 3 tomorrow. We need a calm head and leader. If godden, tc and leaburn are crocked then kelman and dykes it is, maybe without the pressure knowing he'll always be taken off kelman will flourish.....
Keep Jones at centre back and have Coady at centre-half-back, sitting between the defence and what passes for our midfield and giving him the option to drop back and defend or push forward to initiate attacking moves.8 -
Big game this, must not lose.1
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Honestly I would take a 0-0 park the bus with 3 red cards just to get that point and be safe.Realistically? First half of Ipswich game would be good. Second half just keep it tight. Jones at the back making all the difference.We do not want to have to rely on Millwall who might already be up to save us next week.4
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Hull are a bit leaky at the back but score a lot of goals, with McBurnie and Gelhardt enjoying productive seasons. They've also got our former loanee, Liam Millar (as well as our ex-youth player, Ajayi). It would be typical Charlton to score more than one for only the 6th time in 45 games but to let in 3 at the other end.
If Ramsey or Sichenje are unfit to start, I'd prefer to see Keenan Gough or Harry Clarke on the right side of the back 3. I don't know whether Coady could slot in on the left, although he's a very experienced player and could hopefully do a job. The thought of Burke starting sends a shudder down my spine, whilst a left side of Gillesphey and Chambers is bound to be targeted.
We're looking desperately thin up top. Dykes is looking very laboured in recent games, although Miles Leaburn hardly made a case for inclusion in his short cameo last week at Sheffield Wednesday.
Hull have picked up 35 points away from home this season and will represent another stiff challenge to a Charlton side low on confidence. Hull's recent form has been poor but they could hardly have picked a better opponent for their final away game.
What I hope we don't see is the desperate and mindless hoofball that's characterised the last 20 minutes of every recent home game. A little bit of combination play in midfield and down the flanks wouldn't go amiss, although that seems to be beyond us at present. Let's hope we can raise our game and put our relegation fears finally to bed after so many opportunities spurned.6 -
Coady must play.13
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Do we change to 4 at the back because of injuries?
Tk
Ramsay. Clarke Jones Chambers
Coady
Doc Knibbs
Carey
Kelman. Dykes
this is on the assumption that TC is out for the game5 -
RWB at cb and RCB at RB? Interesting moveAberystwythAddick said:Do we change to 4 at the back because of injuries?
Tk
Ramsay. Clarke Jones Chambers
Coady
Doc Knibbs
Carey
Kelman. Dykes
this is on the assumption that TC is out for the game2
