Overview and recent form:
The Addicks hosted Barnsley on Tuesday night and the game in hand saw a 1-2 defeat that left Charlton just one point above the relegation zone. This Good Friday fixture is now a must win for Riga and the team as The Trotters visit The Valley, but Bolton are not going to be an easy team to beat.
Most people would have expected Riga and his men to get the three points against Barnsley in the relegation fight fixture, but the midweek game was certainly a shock to many people, The Red’s dominated for the majority of the game but Barnsley’s M’voto and Kennedy took their chances and scored them, Astric Adjarevic got a goal back in stoppage time but it was overall a game of missed chances for Charlton.
The game on Friday will be Charlton’s third game in six days and Bolton have been in good form recently and they will be looking to extend their six game unbeaten run. They have not lost since March 15th against Brighton, the victories include a 1-0 win at home to Barnsley on Saturday, a 1-2 win at Doncaster and the Trotters beat Huddersfield 0-1 last week.
Dougie Freedman’s men have only lost three out of 15 games which is quite an impressive stat considering they are in the lower half of the table and comparing it to Charlton’s nine losses from 15 games.
Reactions this week:
Riga’s reaction to the Barnsley defeat was: “Today’s disappointment is very big but we try to put in place that we will succeed. Of course there is still the possibility that we will do what we are aiming for.”
“We deserved to score first, we had many opportunities in the first half and we did well because we had control of the game.”
Charlton fan, Matt from Swindon commented on the CAFC wall and said: “No need to panic yet. We still have an extra game on everyone else. Need to improve on our last two performances though.”
Team news:
Charlton
For Charlton, The Reds suffered a huge injury blow on Tuesday night when Rhoys Wiggins limped off in agony on the 85th minute and it has now been confirmed that he has broken a bone in his foot, which will keep him out for the remainder of the season.
Good news was the return of Chris Solly to the starting line up on Tuesday, he has been missed and his presence made an obvious difference.
Bolton
Mark Davies will miss out as he continues to regain fitness, but Wanderers otherwise boast a clean bill of health aside from long term absentees of Marc Tierney, Stuart Holden, Darren Pratley and Joe Riley.
Previous meetings:
The last time that these two teams met was in December which saw a 1-1 draw at Bolton. Last season, Charlton grabbed a 3-2 victory at home but in the away fixture The Red’s lost 0-2.
Overall:
The Wanderers are going to be a tough team for Charlton to beat due to Bolton’s confidence and The Red’s tired legs. Riga will need to make better decisions involving formation and who he puts in the starting 11, but The Reds are fighting for survival and Bolton are simply sitting mid table… not fighting for anything.
I think that the Charlton fans were fantastic on Tuesday night and really got behind the team, even when we were two goals down, so lets hope that is apparent again on Friday to show our support. Hopefully Good Friday really will be a good Friday!
By Becca James
@Becca_James
