Charlton team as usual. DaSilva gets his place back at LB. Konsa keeps his place at CB, Sarr drops to the bench.
Up the Addicks! Usual smattering of fans inside the Valley, about 800 or 900 in the Jimmy Seed so far...
lack-lustre first half. AFC are barely better than a pub team, most of them don't even have a first touch. But Charlton never got out of second gear. No sustained pressure on the away goal, no saves for their keeper to make. Wimbledon have no cutting edge but they have had a couple of chances including one from a corner. The only corner of the entire half for either team. Charlton's strongest 11 are half asleep, even after a weeks rest. 0-0 HT, dull as it sounds.
Sometimes the result matters more than the performance. Today was certainly one of those times. Charlton were a bit better after the break and did apply some pressure, but in the end Ricky Homes' superb free kick was the only bit of class shown by either side. He was brought down fully two yards inside the area so the free kick should have been a penalty, but fortunately the blind referee did not cost us the win. Overall however, a poor performance against an awful AFC team. But onward we march with the 3 points, which is what really matters today. I hope our next League game will produce a much better display.
AFC Wimbledon set up not to lose the game. They time wasted from the off and the Keeper was eventually booked. They did their homework on us and closed down Fosu and Holmes quickly. We couldn't impose ourselves on them. I was right in line with Holmes when he went over and he was well inside the penalty area. But the free kick was the bit of quality we needed. I could only see the Dons scoring from an OG or set piece. The deflection off Solly that hit the bar nearly did the trick for them. It was good to see a bit of quality in Reeves and Marshall coming off the bench.
Uninspiring but it was a job done. Good to see we are putting some clean sheets together too! We would have lost this kind of game last season so credit where due.
thought we were pretty poor today. a lucky win. magennis had another no show. we desperately need another option up front for when he's off form.
Magennis desperately needs a rest. I have heard that Leon Best won't be signed until or if the new owners come in. He was there today in a Charlton tracksuit.
I’d get him in until January right now. We’re waiting for him to regain match fitness before making a decision (think KR said as much last week). Forget that. We just need another option on the bench and I’m sure he could do 20-30 mins.
The atmosphere was pretty flat for most of the game, though the home attendance was up a bit I think (perhaps 600-800 more than at some recent games? though it is difficult to tell). Our initial bout of chants and drum beating faded away after only 10 minutes or so, muted by the lack-lustre performance of the team. I think some home fans have become spoilt a little, assuming Charlton will tear straight into the opposition, hungry for an early goal. Yesterday, for whatever reason, that did not happen. The AFC fans would express their opinion of "Franchise B*****d" Karl Robinson every few minutes, which sometimes produced a few rounds of 'Robinson's red army' from the opposite end. The pressure Charlton began to apply in the middle of the second half roused the North stand a bit, but previous to that the frustration was beginning to show at our team's lack of concerted attacking play. After the goal naturally the crowd perked up, and (somewhat embarrassingly) even began to sing the old Herman's Hermits song about being into something good. But even the cheers at the FT whistle and single tunnel jump - though not by KR on this occasion - were as much expressions of relief as celebration. Despite a miscued clearance from Solly hitting Charlton's own cross-bar AFC Wimbledon never really looked like scoring, yet one piece of rotten luck could have cost us valuable promotion chasing points. But for Ricky Holmes' superb free kick this game would have finished 0-0 because of the below average performance of the rest of the team.
Sometimes the win is everything. Teams aren't going to just turn up and play the way we want them to. It sounds like the Wombles turned up with a game plan and nearly nicked a point, but the Holmes masterclass gave us the win. Still badly need to give Mag a rest - I imagine he won't appear against Truro.
Robinson has said he has given the first team four days off and some are going abroad for some sunshine. Kashi's booking was done on purpose so he misses the Truro game on Sunday. He also named the team on Tuesday for the Checkatrade trophy. Phillips Barnes, Cummings, Dijksteel, he didn't mention a left back Aribo, Jackson, Marshall, Reeves, Ahearne-Grant Dodoo
He did, he said he hoped it would be Lewis Page but wasn't sure https://www.londonnewsonline.co.uk/...-u21s-with-the-rest-of-the-squad-jetting-off/
