Charlton will be hoping to redress their SE7 woes when they host Northampton Town on Tuesday evening (7pm).
Lee Bowyer’s men extended their unbeaten run on the road to five games with a goalless draw at Oxford United on Saturday. But their home form is far less positive.
The Addicks have now gone eight games without a win at The Valley – a record that needs to be set straight if they are to mount a serious play-off push with Tuesday’s fixture marking the start of three consecutive home games in the next seven days.
Northampton travel to the capital on the back of a 4-1 routing of play-off hopefuls Portsmouth to cap off a successful week for caretaker manager Jon Brady, with a 2-0 win against Plymouth Argyle in midweek.
In stark contrast to their hosts, the Cobblers are enduring a ten-game winless run on their travels with their last taste of victory coming in late November against Burton Albion. They currently sit 19th in League One, two points above the drop.
Team News
Darren Pratley is available again having served his two-match ban but Adam Matthews will miss out after hobbling off 18 minutes into Saturday’s clash at the Kassam Stadium with a hamstring problem.
Ryan Inniss (quad) and Alex Gilbey (hamstring), meanwhile, have returned to full training at Sparrows Lane as they step up their respective recoveries.
Northampton will be without defensive duo Alan Sheehan (calf) and Cian Bolger (hip), though Bryn Morris may return to the matchday squad having been ineligible to face his parent club Portsmouth last time out.
Opposition Player To Watch
Ryan Watson
The central midfielder is now in his third spell with the Cobblers having signed a two-year deal in July 2019, with two loan spells in 2014 and 2015 before that under then-manager Chris Wilder.
Watson is enjoying the best scoring run of his career and has netted six of Northampton’s 11 goals since the turn of the year, with all six of those strikes coming in his last five League One outings. The 27-year-old has bagged successive braces against Plymouth and Portsmouth, playing a pivotal part in the Cobblers’ recent form which has seen them climb out of the relegation zone.
Head-to-Head
Saturday’s meeting will be the 35th between the two sides with Charlton winning 12, Northampton nine and the remaining 13 matches ending in draws.
The Addicks won the reverse fixture 2-0 in October thanks to Darren Pratley’s strike and an own goal by Cobblers midfielder Jack Sowerby.
Charlton ran out 4-1 winners during the last meeting at The Valley in August 2017. Josh Magennis and Ricky Holmes both netted before Marc Richards halved the deficit for the visitors, but a stoppage-time brace from Jake Forster-Caskey secured all three points.
