For Wolverhampton Wanderers, substitute Nottingham Forest. A mid table side made up of solid Championship players. Nothing special, even though on an unbeaten run of seven games since the end of November.

There really is no reason for any optimism that Charlton can avoid being rolled over again. The team on Monday included two players patently obviously out of their depth in The Championship and at least two others who didn't seem that interested.  It is unlikely that Ademola Lookman will be available so the squad becomes even weaker.  Even Callum Harriott isn't available until next week.

Because they transgressed FFP limits Forest are under a transfer embargo and will be unable to sign any new players in the January window.  For Charlton, making astute signings in the window looks to be the only hope of escaping relegation.  If a new coach / manager was being prepared to take over from Karel Fraeye we assume that it would have happened by now so that the new man could have some influence on window trading.  The farce of the interim appointment seems therefore bound to continue.

There will be an angry atmosphere at The Valley on Saturday and this is bound to communicate itself to the players. In fact, although there is some frustration at times, most fans are only angry with players when they don't appear to be trying.  Nevertheless, it won't be easy, especially for the younger players.  An early goal for the away team could be disastrous for confidence and cohesion. We can only hope that Charlton can stay on levels terms, show some fight and gradually get the crowd fully on side.

The relegation battle is beginning to look as if it is between five teams. The current form table of the bottom five teams over the last ten games is as follows:

Rotherham       10  4 6 0  12

MK Dons           10  3 5 1  10

Bristol City       10  2 4 4  10

Charlton           10  2  5  3  7

Bolton               10  1  5  4  7

So we have lost ground on three of our rivals and made no ground on the other.  Those who witnessed the games against Bristol City and Wolves will have seen little to make them think this trend can be reversed without a swift influx of solid, committed and experienced window signings in time for the next league game at Huddersfield on January 12th.  Anything we can get from Saturday must be seen as a bonus.