Although there had been some talk of postponing Charlton's home fixture against Rotherham because of international call-ups, Nathan Jones was adamant that the game should go ahead.
Will the Addicks bounce straight back from last weekend's speed bump at Reading or are Rotherham on a roll after their defeat of promotion rivals Huddersfield? Time will tell and it seems there's no time like the present for Nathan Jones and his side. Although we could have requested a postponement due to the international break, the gaffer has told the local press he was keen not to have a break.
If we're to stay in the hunt for promotion it's important to bounce back as quickly as possible from that defeat at Reading who, we have to remember, also fancy themselves as promotion contenders. At the same time, Rotherham haven't won away in the league for nearly two years and 38 games; their last was a narrow 1-0 victory at Sheffield Utd in November 2022.
Most of the intervening period though has been spent in the Championship, including last season's disastrous performance of coming bottom on 27 points, 18 adrift of Huddersfield on 45 points.
The Millers seem to be a different prospect in League One where they have become something of a yo-yo team, probably deserving of the slogan 'Rotherham - home of caretaker managers.' The man at the helm since April - Scotsman Steve Evans - is in his second stint at the club and has good form when it comes to promotion. His combative pitch side antics have already earned him a suspension this season and a few spats with Nathan Jones are to be expected. However, Evans has a reputation for success in lower division promotional dogfights and he will be hoping for more of the same, especially with another old face added to - the Rotherham ranks.
There was a time we thought Jonson Clarke-Harris was bound for SE7 but the Jamaican international striker eventually headed north of Peterborough to Rotherham. Since his return to South Yorkshire, so far in four outings he has only scored one goal and if the Addicks defence returns to pre-Reading form, then we can imagine he's not going to add to that tally against the club he might well have been playing for.
And with Clarke-Harris being only one of over a dozen new signings at Rotherham this summer, the form of this new patchwork side has been quite patchy so far. So even though we may have a couple of absentees including Josh Edwards, still recovering from that rough challenge in the Leyton Orient game, maybe it is a great time to play them and get back to winning ways.
Photo by Rhea Spencer-Newell