MATCH PREVIEW | Charlton v Cheltenham Town

Charlton return from the international break to take on Cheltenham Town at The Valley on Saturday afternoon (3pm), with the fixture dedicated to the Street Violence Ruins Lives campaign.

Nigel Adkins’ side will be looking to pick up from where they left off as they go in search of a second league victory in as many matches, having recorded their first triumph of the 2021/22 League One campaign with a 2-0 win against Crewe Alexandra in SE7 two weekends ago.

TEAM NEWS

Adkins has the option to hand debuts to new arrivals Stephen Henderson, Sam Lavelle, Pape Souaré, Harry Arter and Jonathan Leko, though Ben Purrington (hamstring), Jake Forster-Caskey (ACL) and Alex Gilbey (long COVID) will all miss out.

For the visitors, this weekend's fixture will come too soon for defender Charlie Raglan (knee), while manager Michael Duff will make a late call on Kyle Vassell (calf).

Deadline day signing Christian Norton is yet to link up with the Robins owing to a groin injury, with the loanee currently concluding his rehabilitation with parent club Stoke City.

THE OPPOSITION

Cheltenham are enjoying their first season back in the third tier since the 2008/09 campaign, having been crowned League Two champions last term.

The Robins come into the game on the back of a 1-1 draw against MK Dons at the Jonny-Rocks Stadium last weekend, with Dons substitute Hiram Boateng’s late leveller cancelling out Kyle Joseph’s effort 14 minutes into his Cheltenham debut. That result leaves Duff’s side sat 16th in League One, with six points from their six outings thus far.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Saturday’s encounter will be the first league meeting between the Addicks and the Robins, with the sides having squared off just once previously in the opening round of the EFL Cup back in August 2016.

Cheltenham ran out 1-0 victors in Gloucestershire that evening, with Charlton academy graduate Harry Pell bagging the game’s solitary goal on 17 minutes to fire the hosts into the second round.

MATCH OFFICIALS 

Andy Davies will be the man in the middle on Saturday afternoon. He last refereed the Addicks during the 1-0 reverse against MK Dons at The Valley last December, with Scott Fraser bagging the game’s solitary goal on 76 minutes. 

Davies will be assisted by Rob Smith and George Byrne, while Matthew Russell is the Fourth Official.

OTHER INFO

Tickets for the clash against the Robins are still available - click here to get yours!

The Fans’ Bar will be opening its doors from 12pm on Saturday afternoon and will be showing Crystal Palace v Tottenham Hotspur (12.30pm) and Chelsea v Aston Villa (5.30pm), as well as CharltonTV’s pre-game show from 2.15pm and the CharltonTV post-game show, presented by DNEL Ltd.

Supporters based outside of the UK & Ireland can watch every kick of action against Cheltenham live on CharltonTV, with Paul Mortimer joining host Scott Minto and Alan Curbishley in SE7.

Click here for more information on how you can watch this weekend’s game.

Supporters can buy Valley Gold Jackpot tickets online for the fixture. For every £1 spent on a Jackpot ticket, half goes to the club’s academy to help produce the stars of the future, with the other half going to the two winners of a cash prize.

Click here to be in with a chance of winning up to £2,000.

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