Addicks needing breather before vital run
Alan Curbishley hopes to give some of his squad the chance to “re-charge their batteries” next week as Charlton prepare for a period that will make or break their season.
The Addicks picked up what was only their second point from eight away games in the Barclays Premiership when battling to a goalless draw at Newcastle last night.
It was a first clean sheet on their travels since winning at Birmingham back on September 10, and came just a few days after Curbishley’s men had secured a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
The fourth-round win over Brentford continued Charlton’s decent home form of late, and the Addicks were drawn at The Valley again to host Middlesbrough at the end of next month.
Before that tie, however, there are four tough Premiership fixtures, starting with the visit of Aston Villa this weekend before trips to Anfield and Highbury which are sandwiched by a dress-rehearsal against Steve McClaren’s men on March 11.
Charlton currently lie in 12th place, and Curbishley knows there is plenty of hard work ahead if his team are to ensure another campaign which started full of promise does not end in under-achievement.
“By the time we have played Villa, we will have had a really tough couple of months because we have had the Newcastle game re-arranged and the Liverpool game re-arranged and we have been involved in the cup,” the Charlton manager said.
“We need to get through this weekend and we can give them a little break next week and re-charge their batteries – except for the ones on international duty - and see what the run-in brings us.”
Curbishley believes his side can take heart from the result at St James’ Park as they look to recapture the type of form which had once seen Charlton climb up to second place in the table.
He said: “With the five wins early on in the season, and the couple of draws we have picked up as well, our away record stands up in terms of points total.
“But in the last seven games or so, we have not won and had never given ourselves a chance because we went one down very early on in most games and were chasing from then on.
“We were determined not to be one down and chasing against Newcastle, so the players are delighted they have ended up keeping a clean sheet.”
With the likelihood of one of the Premiership’s top sides making it through to the FA Cup final, Charlton could be guaranteed a UEFA Cup place should they also reach Cardiff in May.
For now, though, Curbishley is fully focused on continuing his side’s improvement with victory over Villa which could just re-ignite their fast-fading hopes of gate-crashing the top six.
“We have got to win some more games to give ourselves a chance,” said the Charlton boss, whom Newcastle counterpart Glenn Roeder is convinced will at least be interviewed by the Football Association as they look to appoint a new England coach.
“But we had to arrest the run of defeats we have had, and we have had to work ever so hard to do that.”
