Huddersfield Town v Charlton Athletic Saturday 23rd January 2014 3pm Kick-Off Referee: Stuart Atwell After a 3-0 victory over Oxford United on Tuesday night in the FA Cup 3rd Round, Charlton return to cup action this Weekend where they travel to Huddersfield Town in the 4th Round a stage that Charlton havenât reached since 2009 after beating Norwich City (also after a replay)⦠Unfortunately that season saw the Addicks only victory in the FA Cup after they were defeated 2-1 at Sheffield United in the next round, in fact the last time Charlton made the 5th Round they also made the Quarter-Finals where they lost to Middlesbrough in 2006. Returning to this year though and you have to fear for Charltonâs continued survival in the competition, facing Huddersfield in a cup competition for the third time in two seasons, Charlton have lost on all three occasions (once at the Valley, twice in Yorkshire), although there is a sliver of hope for Charlton fans⦠after picking Oxford and Huddersfield in the competitions this season, the Addicks are sure come up against new opposition should they reach the next round as old FA Cup foes, Halifax Town / Luton Town / Barnet / Carlisle / Tottenham / Northwich and West Bromwich Albion have already crashed out, leaving Fulham as the sole remaining side from recent years (although they do face Sheffield United whom Charlton faced in 2009). Journey to the Fourth Round Neither Charlton nor Huddersfield had straight forward journeys to this stage of the Cup, although both played lower league opposition in Oxford and Grimsby respectively. Charlton were twice forced to postpone their match at home to Oxford due to pitch problems, and were lucky to survive when the match finally did go ahead⦠coming back from 2-0 down at Half-Time they salvaged a replay when Yann Kermorgant scored an 84th minute equaliser⦠the replay was a much calmer affair and two goals from the Briton Striker earned Charlton a 3-0 victory. Huddersfield themselves didnât have it easy⦠although they faced Conference opposition in Grimsby Town, twice they went behind and only a late goal from Martin Paterson and an own goal ex-Charlton defender Aswad Thomas in the last minute rescued a 3-2 win. Charlton Team News In his press conference today Chris Powell has confirmed that Chris Solly has had a setback with his knee injury so is set to be out for a number of weeks⦠Ben Alnwick returned in midweek against Oxford so will fight it out with Yohann Thuram for the Goalkeeping spot (who along with Astrit Ajdarevic is now eligible for the FA Cup), Michael Smith, cup-tied anyway has since departed the Addicks for Swindon Town, it remains to be seen whether Diego Poyet will be given a place on the bench after making his debut against Oxford whilst Rhoys Wiggins will serve the second of his three match ban following a sending off against Middlesbrough. Possible Team to face Huddersfield Thuram Wilson â Morrison â Dervite â Evina Green â Stephens â Jackson â Harriott Kermorgant â Church Substitutes Bench Alnwick â Wood â Hughes â Pritchard â Ajdarevic â Pigott â Sordell A4Lâs Prediction: 1-0 (Kermorgant)
Just a few notes I want to make on this week's thread... Have picked Thuram in goal not because of conspiracy theories (i.e. Powell being forced to pick him etc...) but to give him another run out get used to the Defence he's got in front of him and to give him some game time so he's prepared should anything happen to Alnwick, another way to look at it is if Alnwick does play in Goal this Weekend then I believe that says Thuram will be our League GK. I've also skipped the Referee feature this week... Thats because I do like to remain neutral when writing the thread and as you can see a certain Mr Stuart Atwell is in charge for this match and I would have struggled not to moan about us getting him twice in a month after his terrible performance at Ipswich.
*scans for errors..doesn't find any* Great stuff again I agree with your team, might be good to see Poyet on the bench as well to see how he copes against Championship level opponents (if he gets on the field that is). Can't see us winning though. 2-0 Huddersfield.
Not Stuart Atwell again ! What have we done to deserve that? The guy was an embarrassment at Ipswich.
Cup game breeds little to no confidence that we will get a result. Another close game with them and going for 3-2 'udders. JJ and Church to score.
Third time this season we've had him after he also refereed the the 2-1 defeat up at Huddersfield in the League earlier in the season
Poyet just tweeted he is on his way to Huddersfield, so the chances he is on the bench are rather high
On our record in cups and against the Terriers, this is a no brainer 3-0 to Huddersfield, but our luck must change against them at some point. And hey, our new signings should start to appear. I still think we'll lose.
Afternoon all Charlton: Alnwick, Wilson, Evina, Morrison, Dervite; Stephens, Jackson (c), Ajdarevic, Harriott; Church, Sordell Subs: huram-Ulien, Green, Wood, Cousins, Lennon, Cook, Pigott So no Yann The Asteroid makes his full debut and Alnwick retains his spot in goal. No sign of Poyet at all.
Huddersfield: Smithies (c); Wallace, Gerrard, Smith; Dixon, Gobern, Clayton, Norwood, Hammill; Ward, Vaughan Subs: Bennett, Woods, Scannell, Stead, Sinnott, Holmes, Bunn
Chris can make some bizarre sub decisions at times, Hughes can cover both right and left back but he is played in the U21's yesterday and Lennon who is an out-an-out central defender is a sub together with Wood???????
I know Cousins was rested against Oxford so Powell is evidently doing the same with Yann I'd have preferred to have seen Cousins rested again today and Poyet given a spot on the bench i.e. regardless if he gets a run out it would be experience for him just being on the bench
Yup... Probably nothing now till the last few games of the season if we're in mid-table obscurity but dont think Powell likes doing that either
My daughter has a Synchronised swimming championship this afternoon, so I'll be following this via the trusty mobile. Won't be able to comment much, but my thoughts are with you. ps no Yann=no comment
