Charlton and Doncaster have never once "shared the points" in the entire history of their games against each other. The record since their first encounter in 1935 is six wins for Charlton and three for Doncaster. This, of course, has no bearing whatsoever on the likelihood of a draw at The Keepmoat Stadium on Saturday.
Our last visit up there in January 2014 resulted in an ignominious 0-3 defeat with Lawrie Wilson sent off in the first half. Six years previously we had snatched a 1-0 win with an a rare goal from Andy Gray. On Boxing Day 1957 we prevailed 2-1 at Belle Vue on our way to that final day showdown with Blackburn which we lost 3-4 and thus missed promotion. In September 1935 we had been beaten 0-2 under Jimmy Seed up there, although we subsequently recovered from a shaky start to the season to gain promotion to the old First Division.
Remarkably, this match - eighty two years ago - is the only occasion that Doncaster have beaten us without James Coppinger in their team. Since joining Donny from Exeter in May 2004 Coppinger has made 563 appearances for the club and scored 65 goals over thirteen seasons. He has appeared in all five of our recent (since 2008) encounters and has been on the score sheet in both Doncaster wins. He makes Johnnie Jackson and Chris Solly look like newcomers. It seems likely that he will be making his 500th League appearance for the hosts on Saturday.
Doncaster are hard to predict. They have gained creditable draws in recent weeks at Scunthorpe, Shrewsbury and Peterborough but they have stumbled at home - losing to Rochdale in the FA Cup, drawing with Plymouth and falling to a surprise 1-3 defeat to Bristol Rovers last time out.
Charlton fans are still reeling from last week's late submission to Oxford and the defensive frailty it demonstrated. The team will now be missing the pace and strength of Stephy Mavididi for a number of weeks but at least there is Sullay Kaikai to step up to the plate. Many would like to see Patrick Bauer return to the starting line-up alongside Ezri Konsa even though it would mean two right footed centre backs. Robinson certainly needs to do something to tighten things up.
A play off spot remains a distinct possibility despite last week's upset. Portsmouth, Peterborough and Bradford have won one game in fifteen between them. Rotherham are the only rival in any sort of form. With Bradford hosting in-form Bury and Rotherham visiting Scunthorpe on Saturday Charlton have a good opportunity to rejoin the top six ahead of the home game with Bradford on Tuesday evening. If these are the last few days of the Duchatelet regime it would be good to welcome new owners from an optimistic place.