Having passed the ten-game marker that Nathan Jones laid down at the start of the season, the next few games are really going to give us a sense of what direction we can expect to travel in the months coming up to Christmas.
With a weekend tie against Stockport and then Barnsley away as our next port of call, these upcoming games against promotion rivals could give us a sense of whether we have truly turned a corner after banishing the blues with our 1-0 victory over Birmingham just before the international break.
But Stockport are coming to The Valley with promotion ambitions of their own. Having gained promotion as champions of League Two last season they now sit two places above us in sixth with a game in hand. They are unbeaten away from home, having won at Blackpool and Shrewsbury and drawn at Crawley, Barnsley and Mansfield. Their only defeat so far was a surprising 1-4 home reverse against Leyton Orient in late September but their defence has otherwise been very impressive. They have only conceded seven in all, so just three in the other eight games they have played. They also boast the League One second place goal scorer in Louie Barry.
One reason for their successful start might be the contribution of their assistant coach Andy Mangan who recently missed out on a job at Real Madrid because of Brexit: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/czxlv9ndvkdo
Last time we faced County in the league it was March 2010 and they were on a spectacular descent through the divisions. Just three years after their 2-0 defeat at The Valley they found themselves relegated to the Conference North. But in recent times they have climbed back out of obscurity, under the management of Dave Challinor who was a target for the Charlton job not so long ago. That was shortly after we had bumped into them on their ascent back to the big time, when they beat us 3-1 in an FA Cup first round replay in December 2022.
Right now though we are in a very different place. Nathan Jones hopes that the win over Birmingham could be a real turning point for the Addicks and in the past week has reiterated how much he values the crowd at The Valley. It's going to be important that fans are again in full voice on Saturday as the team look to continue the momentum.
And an added reason for winning, if we ever needed one, is that they have a Palace player on loan in their squad - Irish U-21 defender Tayo Adaramola. Mind you, he was on trial with the Addicks before he ended up at Selhurst. Another with local links is their goalkeeper Corey Addai, born in London and formerly on loan at Dulwich Hamlet. Added to that they have a couple of former Manchester United stars in their ranks including recent signing Oliver Norwood, the Northern Irish central midfielder who has featured against us in the past, particularly during our most recent times in the Championship.
At present three of the clubs promoted from League Two are above us in the table but, if we keep up the momentum of the tenth game bounce, we can maybe dream of being back in the Championship sooner rather than later. Although we will be missing Conor Coventry (suspension) and Daniel Kanu (injury) we should be well-rested after the international break and, with ten down, ready for the 36 to go.
Photo credit: Rhea Spencer-Newell