Overview:

Tonight’s Capital One Cup game against Colchester United at The Valley presents manager Bob Peeters with the chance to delve deeper into his squad for the coming campaign.

The match against the League One opponents will be the first game of the new season at the stunning new stadium, and it’d be no surprise to see Peeters experiment with his starting eleven in order to allow players on the fringes of the side to get some first team action under their belts.

Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Brentford saw the Addicks play some fantastic football in the second half, before being denied in cruel fashion late on through Tommy Smith’s deflected equaliser, but tonight I’d expect some changes to the eleven that took to the field at Griffin Park.

Manager Reaction from Saturday:

Following the draw at Brentford on Saturday, Bob Peeters was left to rue the missed chances – most notably Callum Harriott’s miss with the score at 1-0.

Despite those missed opportunities, the manager remained positive: “We have created four clear chances so it’s disappointing not to leave with more than a point, but I suppose at the start of the day a point away from home is a positive.”

The new man in charge in SE7 also paid tribute to the new signings and the part that they played in the contest: “I was delighted with the new boys Vetokele and Johann Berg Gudmundsson, who both settled in and adapted well.”

Opponents: Colchester United

Joe Dunne’s side come into tonight’s game off the back of a hard fought 2-2 draw at home to Oldham on Saturday.

The U’s had gone ahead early on when Magnus Okuonghae marked his first game as club captain with a goal, before a stunning Jonathan Forte brace fired the visitors ahead.

Colchester did level the scores late on however, with West Ham loanee George Moncur bagging a late equaliser to give his new side a share of the spoils on opening weekend.

The threat from the Essex side this evening lies with forwards Freddie Sears and Gavin Massey out wide, with the sizeable Jabo Ibehre likely to give the Addicks defence something to think about.

At the back, Magnus Okuonghae will look to snuff out any Charlton forays forward at the centre of defence.

Charlton Line-Up Prediction:

Pope

Wilson Morrison Gomez Fox

Gudmundsson Jackson Cousins Harriott

Church Tucudean

Statistics (Via BBC Sport) :

• Charlton have only lost one of their last five matches against tonight’s opponents – drawing one and winning the other three besides the loss.
• Last year’s win at the same stage against Oxford was the first Addicks win over a lower league side in six attempts
• Colchester have lost all four of their previous cup games against opponents from a higher division.
• The Essex side have won only two of their last 11 games in this competition

Final Thoughts and Match Prediction:

Tonight is a chance for some of the fringe players to show the new manager what they’re about. The likes of Lawrie Wilson, Michael Morrison and Callum Harriott will no doubt have been disappointed not to start the game on Saturday having been prominent in the squad last season.

Elsewhere, Morgan Fox and Joe Gomez can show Peeters that they’ll need serious consideration when he picks his starting eleven and Matchday squad this season.

Should Peeters opt with the front two mentioned above, it is vital that both Simon Church and George Tucudean get off the mark as soon as possible for the season given Igor Vetokele’s debut strike at the weekend.

With all of this in mind I’m going for a comfortable 3-0 victory tonight – goals coming from Church, Tucudean and Harriott respectively.

Come on you Reds!!

Written by Alex Stedman @astedman1