Phil Parkinson brings his Wrexham team to The Valley on Saturday, sitting in second place after their 0-0 home draw with Huddersfield on Tuesday evening.
If Charlton had been able to hang on to their lead at Oakwell for a couple more minutes, we would be welcoming them from fifth place. The late Barnsley equaliser means, however, that our team are eleventh.
At The Racecourse this season Wrexham have won five and drawn one with a goal difference of 15-4 and Tuesday night's draw brought to an end a run of nine home wins since losing to Tranmere back in March. Their away form is less spectacular but still solid. They have won at Peterborough and Rotherham; drawn 0-0 at Bolton and Leyton Orient and lost only at Birmingham and Stevenage. Birmingham put three past them but Stevenage's winner is the only other away goal they have conceded in six games.
Parkinson's team is not light on experience. Their starting eleven on Tuesday included only one player under 25 - goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo (23). Former Charlton players Eoghan O'Connell and Elliott Lee are both 29 with George Dobson (27) one of the youngest. Injuries to strikers Jack Marriott (30) and Stephen Fletcher (37) mean that their main goal threat will no doubt come from Ollie Palmer (32) and Paul Mullin (29), although there may be an opportunity for mere stripling Mo Faal (21) to reduce the average age from the bench.
Palmer and Mullin have been together at Wrexham for four seasons during which they have scored 130 league goals between them. However, 96 of those were scored in the National League and, although Mullin got 24 in 38 appearances last season in League Two, they have both struggled this season with just three in 22 games. Neither have ever played above League One level but their combined achievement of 364 goals in 1047 games (all competitions) means that they know what to do if offered the opportunity.
Despite his team almost snatching three points at Barnsley, Nathan Jones was "bitterly disappointed" at the level of performance which he said was "a mile off what I expected". He felt that the team "needed driving tonight" and he put some of the absence of intensity and aggression down to his own absence through suspension from the touchline. "If we want to do anything we need to be better" he complained - particularly focussing on his assertion that "we didn't win a header all night". He was however full of praise for Luke Berry and he strongly hinted that Berry would be in the starting eleven on Saturday.
We understand that there is some sort of Hollywood connection to Wrexham but we trust there will be no red carpet for them when they arrive at The Valley. George Dobson will of course receive a warm and appreciative welcome but, after kick off, we assume there will be no quarter given. A crowd approaching capacity is expected and we hope that the atmosphere will help inspire our team as it did against Birmingham.
It is Red, White & Black Day on Saturday when we celebrate Charlton's diversity and there will no doubt be a lot of first-time visitors present. We want them to return and bolster future attendances so please try to make everyone welcome, even if they are not yet totally au-fait with match day etiquette!
At three o'clock don't find yourself stuck fuming at the back of a long queue at the turnstiles. Arrive early, enjoy the celebrations and help build the atmosphere.