Charlton Women entertain Women's Super League Aston Villa at The Valley on Sunday (kick off 2pm) to conclude their  preparation for the new Championship season.

The season proper begins with a home game against newly promoted Portsmouth on September 8th.

Aston Villa finished seventh in the WSL last season so they should provide a strong test of Karen Hills's squad's readiness to push for promotion again. The Villa team is likely to include Rachel Daly and Jordan Nobbs.

The Women's Championship will be contested by just eleven clubs this season, following Reading's withdrawal. Portsmouth will be joined in the Championship by Newcastle (who won the National League North) and Bristol City who were relegated from the WSL after just one season. The gap between Championship and WSL was evidenced by City's painful experience of one win, three draws and eighteen defeats in their debut season. It will be interesting to see if Crystal Palace fare any better up there this season.

The Charlton squad will boast six new signings in Charlotte Newsham and Jodie Hutton (both previously Sheffield United), Mel Filis and Gracie Pearse (from West Ham and Tottenham after successful loans with Charlton last season) and Katie Bradley (Blackburn), Ellie Brazil (Tottenham) and Princess Ademiluyi (on loan from West Ham)

The full squad is:

https://www.charltonafc.com/squad/763

Ticket details:  https://booking.cafc.co.uk/en-GB/categories/Womens%20Home%20Games