After last weekend’s disappointing defeat to Bristol City in what was a must win relegation scrap, Charlton welcome Cardiff City to The Valley. Cardiff are five points off the play offs so this could be a tough ask if the Addicks repeat last week’s gutless display.

LEWIS CATT looks ahead to Saturday’s clash

Last weekend we all arrived at The Valley with a small glimmer of hope and belief after a fantastic win against Rotherham away from home. It was a fantastic Charlton display meaning that we gained some ground on our relegation rivals.

With C.A.R.D not planning a demonstration after the game it meant the vocal focus of all supporters was in the ground cheering on the boys to what would have been a real season starter. However we are Charlton and things like this just do not happen to us…. do they?

The planned banner protests on the 19:05 minute of the game was loud and proud but amongst that the Addicks had conceded a penalty. Despite Henderson coming close, the ball somehow squirmed through him like some kind of video game glitch.

The Addicks were 1-0 down and throughout the game showed very little battle and desire to get back into it. You could say the penalty was soft and it’s just how our luck is going but in my eyes you create your own luck and if Charlton did want to get back into this game then they had a funny way of showing it.

Wasteful passing and absolutely nothing in the final 3rd. Morgan Fox left the field to sarcastic cheers and boos which is sad. The young Welshman is hardly doing the shirt justice at the moment but we have to remember he is still so young. I feel he needs a spell out of the side to have a little regroup because Saturdays atmosphere would have affected him mentally and probably emotionally too.

Still we move on to this Saturday and another must win. The Addicks need to churn out a strong home performance and get the home crowd behind them from kick off. Charlton will need to get ahead early as I feel that is where we can be most effective.

It will be interesting to see what Riga does with his starting XI. Four points from safety… league’s worst goal difference…. Come on you Addicks.

Team News:

Jose Riga may make a handful of changes to his Addicks XI. Stephen Henderson should keep his place in goal with Chris Solly and Jorge Teixiera being the first names on the sheet in regards of defenders.

They could be joined by two out of Naby Sarr, Harry Lennon, Morgan Fox and new Loanee Rod Fanni. Johann Berg Gudmundsson, Johnnie Jackson, Jordan Cousins and Zakayra Bergdich should continue in the middle of the park although Diego Poyet and Callum Harriott are sat on the bench awaiting chances in the starting XI.

Charlton are sweating on the fitness of Igor Vetokele after he missed last week’s clash with Bristol City. Should the Angolan return he could come in alongside Simon Makienok with Ademola Lookman possibly moving over to the left replacing Bergdich. Arsenal Loanee Yaya Sanogo may play some part this weekend but is likely the Frenchman will be introduced from the subs bench. Patrick Bauer and Alou Diarra remain sidelined for now but should only be a few weeks away from fitness. Tareiq Holmes-Dennis has a knee injury and joins Ahmed Kashi in the treatment room.

Charlton

Henderson, Solly, Teixiera, Lennon, Fanni, Gudmundsson, Cousins, Jackson, Lookman, Vetokele, Makienok.

Cardiff City:

Sean Morrison remains sidelined for the bluebirds. The defender who scored the winner for the Bluebirds in a 2-1 against the Addicks in Wales last September has been out since Christmas. That means Bruno Manga and Matt Connelly should continue in defence.

Craig Noone also looks set to miss the trip to SE7. Noone was a scorer in our 5-4 win over Cardiff back in 2012. Dangermen Sammy Ameobi and Peter Whittingham should start and Anthony Pilkington should partner Tom Lawrence up top after the bluebirds lost Joe Mason, Kenwyne Jones and Tony Watt in January.

Prediction:

We need something, even if we scrape it; we have one foot in league one at the moment

Charlton 1-0 Cardiff