Charlton travel to the Kassam Stadium knowing that every point collected now will shape where next season’s away days take us.
Not wishing any misfortune on Tottenham Hotspur, of course, but there is a small and rather curious subplot to the closing weeks of the season. Tottenham’s magnificent new stadium would be a wonderful place for Charlton supporters to visit. In an ideal world, that would happen in the Premier League. Yet with Tottenham currently fighting to preserve their top flight status, there remains the very real possibility that the visit could instead come in the Championship next season.
For Charlton, the lesson is simple; keep collecting points and make sure our own future remains secure. The extraordinary performance at Middlesbrough on Wednesday night and last weekend’s victory over Birmingham City are significant in that regard. The six points gained give the Addicks a welcome cushion and mean that results elsewhere carry less weight than they might otherwise have done. At this stage of the season that kind of breathing space is invaluable.
Now attention turns to Saturday’s early kick off. Oxford are a side who have blown hot and cold throughout the campaign and, despite never climbing above 19th place, they have managed to stay in touch by producing enough results to remind everyone of their quality. Recent away 0-0 draws at Coventry and Middlesbrough showed their resilience and, having beaten rivals WBA at home two weeks ago they pulled off a convincing 3–1 win away at Preston North End last weekend to make it back to back victories for the first time this season. They turned that into a treble on Wednesday by seeing off another rival - Blackburn. These results underline the threat they carry when momentum builds. Ironically, they currently have two young Tottenham loanees - Will Lankshear and Jamie Donley - in their team and it was Donley who scored the winner against Blackburn.
They also have experience of navigating these late season battles. Last year they finished seventeenth, and that familiarity with the grind of survival could prove useful again as the run-in gathers pace. Like us at Charlton and the other sides around us, including a few divisional heavyweights, they know the table remains tightly packed and that every point matters.
They love a set piece goal and six of their last seven goals have come directly from a set piece scenario. Thankfully, defending set pieces is one of Charlton’s strengths, having only conceded eight which is the third best record in the division. Like Charlton, Oxford’s best results often come when they don’t have the ball. Their hat trick of recent wins has been achieved with only about 30% possession. Charlton had 22% at Middlesbrough and it will be interesting to see who dominates the ball on Saturday.
Students of football facts will know that meetings between Charlton and the club from one of England's most renowned university cities are relatively recent in historical terms. The clubs first met in 1968 in the old Second Division. Since then the record has remained remarkably balanced. Charlton have won nineteen games; Oxford have won seventeen and there have been seventeen draws. The most recent chapter arrived just before Christmas with Charlton claiming a vital 1–0 win, a welcome festive bonus that helped steady the campaign at an important moment.
As spring arrives, Charlton travel with growing confidence. Recent weeks have shown that this side can compete away from home as well as at The Valley. Results against the teams around us such as last month's scrap up at West Bromwich Albion have demonstrated that the Addicks are capable of digging in and collecting points when it matters. And, speaking of digging in, how about blocking 34 shots at The Riverside on Wednesday to preserve that priceless clean sheet?
In the form table, the two sides sit fairly close together which suggests another tight contest. Oxford will see it as a chance at last to climb out of the bottom three and Charlton will view it as another step towards safety. If there is a lesson to take into Oxford this weekend, it is a simple one; keep studying the table, keep gathering points, and keep moving forward, because if the Addicks apply themselves well enough now, the syllabus for next season’s away days might include some rather interesting destinations.
Since you ask: Elizabeth Line from Woolwich to Liverpool Street and either Greater Anglia to Northumberland Park or London Overground to White Hart Lane.