Overview and recent form
Charlton face their seventh game in three weeks on Saturday, and it will be a fighting fixture for both teams with Charlton battling to keep their Championship status and Reading are under pressure to keep their place in the play offs.
Charlton have had a good start to April following the 0-1 away victory against Leeds on Tuesday night which saw Reza Goochanehad score his first goal for the reds and a penalty save from Ben Hamer in the final minutes of the game. The Addicks now have a three point cushion from the relegation zone and closed the gap on Birmingham with two games in hand and now only two points between us.
Post Tuesday night, Riga said: “It’s only one step more, but when you saw three games ago the big games that we had to were away then six points out of nine from those games is very good.”
Ben Hamer said: “I haven’t saved a penalty all season and what a more important time to do it than with a game in hand and to get a one nil win so I am very pleased.”
Since Riga’s arrival in March, The Red’s have only lost two out of seven games including three wins against Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest and Leeds.
The Royal’s needed to win on Saturday against Huddersfield but they only managed to steal a point at home after suffering a 1-3 defeat against Barnsley also at home four days previous. Adkins’s men have only won two out of their last eight games and with Nottingham Forest and Ipswich only two points behind them, their play off position is far from safe.
Team news:
Charlton
Chris Solly is making good progress with his rehabilitation from injury but will not be available for Saturday’s game, Leon Cort limped off of the pitch on Monday’s development squad defeat at Crystal Palace with a tight hamstring so he will not be featuring either.
New loan singing Davide Petrucci could make an appearance for The Addicks as well as Joe Pigott who has just been recalled from Gillingham. Riga has a strong line up to chose from which will hopefully mean that he can keep fresh legs on the pitch and will most definitely see Tuesday’s goal scorer, Reza Goochanehad start.
Reading
Wayne Bridge is on the mend but is unlikely to be in Adkin’s squad with a knee injury. Danny Williams (knee), Mikele Leigertwood (ankle) and Jem Karacan (cruciate) are all still unavailable for Reading.
The Royal’s centre back, Sean Morrison suffered a knee injury in November, and he has finally made his first appearance for five months and will be likely to be in. “It was nice to be back, I heard the fans give me a shout when I came back in too,” said Morrison on Reading’s official site.
Previous meetings:
The last time the two teams met earlier in the season was December 3rd at The Madejski Stadium which Charlton faced a 1-0 defeat.
The two teams had not met since August 2011 when Charlton beat Reading 2-1 in The Carling Cup.
Overall this season, Charlton have won 9, drawn 11 and lost 17.
Reading have won 16, drawn 12 and lost 11.
By Becca James
@Becca_James
