Bradford City v Charlton Athletic
Saturday 21st October 2017 … 3pm Kick-Off
Referee: Darren Bond (Lancashire)
IntroductionIf anything is becoming clear in our quest to return to the Championship then it is the fact that more chances must be taken with more draws being turned into wins. On Tuesday night; Charlton made the trip to Oxford for a tight match against our Play-Off rivals, after an opening that was dominated by the Addicks, we once again failed to capitalise and Karl Robinson was once again forced to settle for a 1-1 draw… This Saturday, Charlton travel to Yorkshire for the second of their Play-Off double header as we face what’ll be one of the toughest away matches of the season, in Bradford City.
The OppositionName: Bradford City |
Manager: Stuart McCall
Last Result: Bradford 1-1 Oldham
Many fans won’t thank me for this comment yet this Weekend could have seen Charlton playing a different team entirely… Five months ago; Bradford deservedly appeared in the Play-Off Final and after 80mins of the match were probably the side that looked likely to get promoted that day. Unfortunately that wasn’t to be the case, and their opponents (who won’t be named) recorded a late winner to win the day!!
Recovering from a Play-Off Final defeat must be one of the hardest jobs that a Manager has… If a team is relegated then yes the Manager has to adjust to the lower level yet in some cases, relegation is all but confirmed months in advance so the respect club have time to do their research… Play-Off defeat though is the biggest sucker punch, after missing out on promotion, you have a second chance, yet to come so close and fail at the last hurdle must be the ultimate challenge for a Manager to pick up his players and go again.
For Bradford that wasn’t helped over the summer when they lost their two best players in Billy Clarke and Mark Marshall who both left for pastures new. Yet the Bantams have recovered and currently occupy third spot, once again proving they’re one of the hardest clubs to beat at this level – Goals this term have come from Charlie Wyke who having scored on seven occasions will be a match for our very own: Tariqe Fosu… Bradford themselves having scored and conceded more than our very own Addicks…
Charlton Team NewsTo put it bluntly; the revival of Naby Sarr continues… After appearing in pre-season, many Charlton fans thought that the Frenchman would have a limited stay back in SE7 yet that hasn’t been the case!! – Two impressive appearances against Fleetwood and Oxford (not easy opponents) have finally begun to show why the Addicks made such an effort to sign the man from Sporting Lisbon… With Ezri Konsa also impressing with Jason Pearce absent it makes you wonder who’ll start this Saturday, neither deserve to be dropped, both deserve to start
Of course as already mentioned; Billy Clarke will return to the club he played for at Wembley and having confirmed he won’t celebrate (should he score), its hopeful he’ll return to the line-up after being replaced by Ben Reeves on Tuesday night… Nicknamed “the Irish Messi”, the Addicks certainly looked less impressive going forward without our main No.10
Amos
Solly | Bauer | Sarr | Dasilva
Kashi | Forster-Caskey
Holmes | Clarke | Fosu
Magennis
Substitutes Bench: Phillips | Konsa | Jackson | Reeves | Aribo | Ahearne-Grant | Dodoo
PredictionOther than Wigan, this is one occasion I’ll agree with Robinson when he says it’s our toughest away match of the season… Bradford always have a strong backing (thanks to their reasonable ticket pricing) so the Addicks will be faced with a wall of noise when they visit Valley Parade – If we hadn’t lost to Gillingham I’d even say that defeat wouldn’t be disastrous but we need to keep up the pressure on our rivals. A win would be a great confidence booster yet a draw wouldn’t be the end of the world with neither team capitalising!!
Comments
I would start Reeves in place of Clarke if he is up to it.
Ignore me, i saw on one of the photos its where Charlton could finish after Saturdays games.
Thought Clarke was better, provided the latter isnt injured be a shame for him not to start against his old club
Aribo should get some game time if Reeves is blowing.
I'm gutted if Holmes is injured, haven't seen him play, and I can't see him starting in the FA cup game.
I'm expecting a cracking game, plenty of attacking play, as for @ForeverAddickted hassaid, they've scored and conceded more than ourselves.
I've got to go for the win, 3-2 to us, though a 2-2 draw seems likely too. Either or, I can't wait to get behind the boys and experience the sights of Bradford! COYR!!!
Edited to include key missing word!
Fosu and Clarke.
It's going to be a tough game again but the emergence of Fosu means we aren't so reliant on Holmes at the moment which is good for him and good for us as a team.
Hope we don't pick up any injuries as that potential bench looks very weak in terms of attacking options.
I'll for a 2-1 win to Charlton.
https://www.cafc.co.uk/news/view/59e9c41323042/away-guide-the-northern-commercials-stadium
we should have won there last season when we were weaker than this season, we missed chances galore in a 0-0 draw .. they are (arguably) weaker than last season, though still useful of course ...
Sarr stays in and Konsa at right back (the latter won't happen, Solly has become a fixture when fit) .. Fosu and Holmes on the break will scare the life out of them .. I am sure that we are more suited to an away type game than dominating at home (blame 4231)
Bradford City 0 v CAFC 2
Hard to predict ...
0.0
Especially with Holmes a doubt and Reeves contributing little at Oxford.