The Charlton squad preparing for Saturday's trip to Exeter is numerically reduced by the departures this week of Stockley, Jaiyesimi, Kirk, Lavelle and, surprisingly, O'Connell. On the other hand, it does include a player who has not only played against Lionel Messi but who took the opportunity to unceremoniously clean him out in a tackle.
The departure of manager Matt Taylor to take over at Rotherham in early October made little difference to supporter-owned Exeter City's fortunes. They were in eleventh place when he left and now, under the management of former Celtic and Scotland defender, Gary Caldwell, they sit in tenth. This is an impressive performance by last year's League Two runners-up and they are certainly doing a lot better than the champions - Forest Green.
They have no trouble scoring goals. They are level with Charlton as the sixth highest scorers in League One with 39. In Jevani Brown (14 in all competitions) and Sam Nombe (13) they have a formidable strike force and they are both players who have impressively worked their way up the pyramid. Brown was 23 before he made his league debut for Cambridge in 2017 - having played for (among others) St Neots Town, Kettering and Stamford. Nombe started at Milton Keynes and had loan spells at Oxford City, Maidenhead and Luton before establishing himself at Exeter last season.
It is in defence that Exeter have problems - their 39 goals conceded is the worst record in League One apart from Bristol Rovers and the bottom six and it is probably the key to their inconsistency. The week before we beat them 4-2 at The Valley in October they had won 2-0 at Barnsley. They have won at Bristol Rovers, Oxford and Milton Keynes since the turn of the year but have yet to win a home game.
Charlton supporters will be more interested in who is selected for the visitor's squad. Technical Director Andy Scott and manager Dean Holden have declared themselves very happy with the outcomes of the January window and have stressed the advantages of a smaller group in terms of cohesion.
https://www.charltonafc.com/news/andy-scott-reflects-transfer-window
https://www.charltonafc.com/news/dean-holden-assesses-winter-window
However, there can be little doubt that a few injuries or suspensions could lead to a starting eleven taking the field similar to the one that lost 1-3 at Oxford in December. Despite the current nine point gap between Charlton in 15th and Accrington in 21st that is a worrying prospect. Charlton fans will be banking on the incoming players - Matt Penney, Gavin Kilkenny (on loan from Bournemouth) and Michael Hector - remaining fit and playing to their potential.
Penney is a welcome left-footed left back but he had a mixed debut against Bolton last week and Kilkenny is relatively inexperienced. Despite being 23 the midfielder has made only eighteen senior appearances, albeit these have all been at Championship level for Bournemouth and Stoke. In the meantime he has accumulated 21 caps for the Republic of Ireland under 21 side.
The signing of Michael Hector is an intriguing one. The six foot four thirty year old has had an interesting career which has included loan periods at fifteen different clubs. Only 82 of his 321 senior appearances have been made for his parent clubs, Reading and Fulham. He has played at Championship level for Reading, Hull, Sheffield Wednesday and Fulham and even made four Premier League appearances for Fulham just two seasons ago. He has thirty five international caps for Jamaica but has only played eight games in the last two years.
He claims by the way that he won the ball in that tackle with Messi and commented that:
“I got booked for it, but I actually won the ball! Those type of players get given quite a bit.”
LATE NEWS: Jevani Brown will not play for Exeter against Charlton because of a " club disciplinary matter"