Well a week ago I stated this was a make or break week for Charlton, and Seven days later I sit here rather happy.
Charlton have picked up 4 crucial points after following a 1-1 draw with Scunthorpe up with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Yeovil Town as they head in to a crunch top of the table clash with League 1 giants Huddersfield town this weekend.
Huddersfield go in to the game following a 2-0 victory over Chesterfield on Tuesday night and are back in with a shout of automatic promotion again.
It’s been a strange season for Huddersfield so far. They made a flying start along with Charlton, and back in November when the two sides met it was first v second in a tightly fought encounter. Charlton came out 2-0 winners thanks to Hogan Ephraim and Yann Kermorgant and in the process ending Huddersfield’s amazing and record breaking 43 unbeaten record.
But this meeting at the Galpharm sees Huddersfield managed by a different man since that night in November with Simon Grayson now the man at the helm and it’s fair to say it’s been a frustrating start to his time with the Terriers after he has already witnessed his side throw away a few leads including a 3-0 lead over Bury and a 2-0 advantage over Stevenage.
There is no doubting who Charlton will have to watch on Saturday afternoon, his name is Jordan Rhodes and his quite simply unplayable at this moment in time. The prolific youngster bagged his 34th goal of the season on Tuesday night and although he didn’t cause Charlton’s backline too many problems in November, he is quite simply a player who can make something out of nothing. Not only is he doing it on the club scene but also at international this season bagging a hat-trick for the Scotland’s Under 21’s already this season.
What has tended to be Huddersfield downfall this season is their defence. Although they have one of the most highly rated keepers in England right now in Alex Smithies it means little if your defence is leaking goals. As a result they will have to be at their best to stop the rampant Addicks from scoring a few.
Charlton must build on Tuesday’s superb win over in-form Yeovil to push themselves over that line. A week ago there were question marks over whether Charlton could see this title push through and, the response coming from the ecstatic Charlton fans on Tuesday after the final whistle would have made most neutrals think that Tuesday night guaranteed promotion.
It was great to see a huge number of fans jumping around with chants like “Championship here we come”, as this shows the belief is very much back with the fans, if it had ever gone away. Another 3 points over Huddersfield on Saturday would move Charlton on to 85 points and another huge step towards that inevitable title.
By Charlton Athletic blogger Martin Johnson
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