Can the Addicks keep up the rhythm of their 100% start to the season with the visit of Bolton Wanderers?
On Saturday when Bolton come to The Valley, it's the club's official 'Bring a Pound to the Ground' day, when fans are encouraged to come along with a donation for Charlton Athletic Community Trust. While we might be arriving with a pound, we'll be hoping to leave with all three points.
That would continue the momentum of our opening two games and put a comfortable gap between us and some of our fellow promotion contenders even at this early stage of the season when it's points on the board that matter just as much as performances. Prior to the Leyton Orient game, Nathan Jones suggested that the number of games have to be "in double digits" before we get a sense of how the season's likely to shape up, but nine points from three would definitely have us in an early dreamland.
However, Bolton could prove a bit of a wake-up call if we're not at the top of our game. Our recent record against them is very poor with only one win in the last ten encounters and, when we managed a 3-3 draw at their place last season, it stopped a run of five consecutive defeats, three of which were at The Valley. When they beat us 2-0 at The Valley last October, they arguably looked to be the best visitors we'd had that far into the season. Many expected them to gain automatic promotion but they finished third, missing out to Derby County by five points after a late slump in form. They then reached the play-off final where they suffered an unexpected 2-0 defeat to less-fancied Oxford United.
No wonder then that they are amongst the favourites for another promotion challenge this season. They've brought in a number of signings in the close season including splashing the cash on Hungarian international winger Szabolcs Schön, strengthening the left-wing back position identified as one of last season's problem areas by manager Ian Evatt.
That's an interesting signing in light of our own Hungarian saga with George Dobson. They've clearly identified a player that they see as capable of getting them over the line this time around. And, of course, they still have their man-mountain captain Ricardo Carlos at centre back. We hope that Gassan Ahadme can put him under some pressure and that Chuks can get the better of him when he comes on.
Nathan Jones has shown just as much confidence in our promotion chances and this will be a good test of where we're at, even though still in single digits:
“We’re not a side that sits off and allows teams to come onto us" said Jones on Thursday. "We’re not a pragmatic team – we go after every game. At times it’s going to be difficult to break teams down or to get the opening because sides want to win games. It’s just that patience that we need and the belief that we’re good enough to create something which will win us the game.”
Although it seems that Josh Edwards will be out for a number of weeks following Sean Clare's tackle last Saturday we have a fine replacement in Thierry Small. A win on Saturday would put us within one point of a double digits total after three games so let's hope The Valley's in fine voice once again. And don't forget to bring a quid. It could be a fair swap for leaving with three points!
Photo by Rhea Spencer-Newell