ADDICKS columnist MATT FRICKER this week argues the momentum is in Charlton’s favour ahead of Monday’s battle against Huddersfield.
CHARLTON Athletic’s unbeaten run continues.
Since the defeat to Stevenage on October 15 we’ve won six games on the trot.
I’ve spoken about pressure in this column before, but come Monday night the pressure won’t be on Chris Powell’s Addicks.
While Charlton have gained seemingly little attention from the Football League Show and other programmes in comparison to Huddersfield, I think this can only be a positive as we look towards one of the biggest games of the season.
Huddersfield are undefeated in 43 league games, even though they lost last season’s play-off final and were hammered 4-1 in the FA Cup recently by League Two Swindon.
They have double the amount of draws the Addicks have, they’ve got a worse goal difference and currently sit five points behind us in second place.
It’s also worth pointing out Jordan Rhodes, while a massive threat, has still scored one less goal in the league this season than Bradley Wright-Phillips.
But when you look at the media scrutiny Huddersfield have been under (like the fact BBC’s Football League Show have been singing their praises every step of the way), it only really benefits one team - Charlton Athletic.
If there’s any pressure to win on Monday night it is on the Terriers, as they have to travel across the country to a ground which hasn’t seen a league loss to face the only side performing better than them this season.
It’s worth remembering the worse case scenario for the Addicks would mean we end Monday night with a two point lead at the top of the table.
Obviously our preparations have been hampered slightly by the worrying news Johnnie Jackson looks set to be out for a while with a hamstring injury sustained in the 1-0 win at Brentford.
This said, we’ve still got an abundance of alternatives for every position on the pitch.
The likeliest replacement for our captain will probably be new loan signing Hogan Ephraim, who’s just joined from QPR and by all accounts should be playing at least in the Championship, if not the Premier League.
Apart from Ephraim we’ve also got Cedric Evina, Scott Wagstaff and Bradley Prichard who could all comfortably step into the left midfield position.
As Monday night approaches, we can almost be certain the coverage and interest in the game and Huddersfield’s chances of remaining unbeaten will become more intense.
But it’s worth remembering if Charlton win on Monday night, not only will we destroy Huddersfield’s unbeaten run, we’ll also go eight points clear at the top of League One.
Come on you Addicks!
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