Marcus Braddock previews the trip to the Valley
This weekend sees Shrewsbury Town visit Charlton Athletic who currently occupy 6th place in League One with 51 points from 32 games. It's been an interesting season for Addicks fans. Their form has been pretty decent aside from a poor patch between November and January which saw them drop out of the play-off positions. The New Year brought better form with four wins, two draws and two defeats, one at home to Oxford and another at home to Gillingham on New Year's Day.
Top Scorers (League goals)
Josh Magennis 8
Tarique Fosu-Henry 7
Ricky Holmes 6
Ricky Holmes 4
Joe Aribo 4
Frederik Ulvestad 4
Josh Magennis 4
Clean Sheets
Four at home and three away. Charltons last clean sheet was on January 13th when they beat Bury 1-0 away. Their last clean sheet at home was a week earlier when they beat Oldham 1-0.
Stats
Charlton have scored in the nine games they have played in since the turn of the year but have conceded at least one goal in each of their last five games.
The last fifteen minutes of games at the Valley are the Addicks most prolific with nine goals scored but they are also most vulnerable during that period with nine conceded.
On average Charlton have scored 1.47 goals at home with 1.18 conceded over the same time.
Charlton are the eighth best team at home in League one with 29 points from 17 games at the Valley.
Referee
Christopher Sarginson from Staffordshire. Games this season: 33. Yellow cards: 109. Red cards: 5.
Assistants: Paul Graham and Carl Fitch-Jackson.
Fourth Official: Charles Breakspear.
Squad News
Charlton: Everybody is fresh according to Manager Karl Robinson.
Town: Max Lowe may be rested (hamstring) but Bryn Morris and Jon Nolan are both fit after their bouts of illness.
Summary
This is a hugely important game for both teams, but every game is at the moment. We have excellent away form and with the Addicks finding results at home difficult there is reason for a little quiet optimism. However, the home team is hoping for a large crowd to roar them on and with manager Karl Robinson making very positive noises, it's clear that the home team sees this game as a springboard to further success. Win, lose or draw, it's going to be a close game but hopefully we can get something positive ahead of the Checkatrade Trophy semi final on Tuesday.