MATCH PREVIEW | Shrewsbury Town v Charlton

Lee Bowyer will be looking for a reaction from his side after a second disappointing midweek performance in as many weeks when they head to Shrewsbury Town on Saturday (3pm).

The Addicks showed their calibre at Ipswich Town last Saturday having been beaten at Burton Albion four days earlier and the same sort of bounce-back will be expected after Wednesday's defeat at the hands of MK Dons.

Despite that result, Charlton still sit fourth in the League One table, three points off second place. Shrewsbury, meanwhile, currently lie second from bottom and have gone nine league games without victory.

Paul Smyth will remain sidelined for around four weeks after suffering a gash to his knee at Ipswich last weekend, while Andrew Shinnie is a doubt for Saturday with a tight thigh.

Alfie Doughty and Ryan Inniss remain long-term absentees, while Dylan Levitt and Deji Oshilaja continue to isolate due to Levitt's positive coronavirus test.

Ian Maatsen makes a return having served his one-match ban, while Jake Forster-Caskey may be involved after making a return to training on Thursday.

Charlton boss Lee Bowyer: “We had a blip – we’re going to have blips. With so many games, it's all about our recovery. We'll get back on the road and try and get three points up there."

Shrewsbury boss Steve Cotterill: “Our performance level, I thought, was much better [in midweek]. We’ve got something to build on, I think having the fans back in definitely helped the lads and gave them that bit of encouragement.

"We’ve got to keep working at it and working at it and keeping our heads down and try to get us up another notch, again."

Charlton and Shrewsbury have met on 25 previous occasions with the Addicks winning eight, the Shrews 10 and the remaining seven finishing all-square.

The last meeting between the sides saw Charlton come away from Montgomery Waters Meadow with all three points thanks to a 3-0 victory in January 2019 - Lyle Taylor, Darren Pratley and Karlan Grant scoring the goals.

Anthony Backhouse will be the man in the middle on Saturday afternoon. He has taken charge of 12 games, so far, this season, dishing out 40 yellow cards and one red.

His only other experience of refereeing a Charlton fixture also came at Montgomery Waters Stadium when the Addicks won 3-0 last time out in January 2019.

The match will be played in front of a small crowd of home fans only and Charlton supporters are reminded to maintain social distancing guidelines and to stay away from the stadium when the match is taking place.

Supporters can follow all the build-up to the game on Charlton's official Instagram account, official Twitter account and Facebook page as usual.

Supporters will be able to watch Charlton league games this season live on Valley Pass. All league games, except those selected for UK or international broadcast, will be available to purchase with a match pass which costs £10 in the UK and Ireland and internationally.

Supporters living abroad can purchase a season live video pass for £195, which will give them access to every game the club is allowed to stream internationally during the 2020/21 season.

Supporters who are yet to purchase a pass for Saturday's game can do so here. UK-based supporters who purchase a stream will be entered into the Your Club, Your Car prize draw which will see one lucky fan drive away with one of the club's now-infamous Range Rovers. Click here for more details.

Meanwhile, live audio commentary of the game from Terry Smith and Greg Stubley will be available to Valley Pass subscribers in all countries as usual.

Click here for more information on how to purchase a streaming pass for Saturday's game.

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