This Week's Opposition: Charlton Athletic

A return to league football is on the cards for Pompey next. Danny Cowley’s Blues will be looking to return to winning ways after 3 games without a league victory.

Last week’s 1-1 draw with Fleetwood at Fratton Park, alongside results elsewhere, have pushed Pompey down to 5th in League One ahead of this weekend’s round of fixtures.

This time around, The Valley plays host to Portsmouth and their next opponent, Charlton Athletic,

MANAGER

The Addicks are now managed by 42-year-old Ben Garner, who took the post back in June, succeeding Johnnie Jackson, who left for Wimbledon at the end of last season.

Garner, who was mentored by former Chelsea and Real Madrid manager José Mourinho whilst completing his UEFA Pro Licence in 2014, has experience in the field as a youth coach at Crystal Palace, as West Brom assistant head coach and managers of Bristol Rovers and Swindon Town before moving to SE7.

Since taking over at Charlton, Ben Garner has claimed victory in just 5 of the 17 competitive games that have been held.

ONE TO WATCH

Keep not just one but both eyes out for Charlton’s captain, that’s number 9 Jayden Stockley.

Stockley, now 29 years of age, may have only scored twice this season but always proves to be a handful against his former side Pompey.

He has been at The Valley since January 2021, initially joining on an end-of-season loan from Preston North End before making the move permanent at the end of the campaign.

The ex-Aberdeen and Exeter City striker scored what proved to be only a consolation for The Addicks in the Blues’ 3-1 at Charlton last February.

TOP SCORER

18-year-old Miles Leaburn is currently Charlton’s top scorer in the league this season with 4 claimed at this stage already.

The forward, who wears the number 33 shirt, came through the Chelsea youth academy and moved across the Thames to The Addicks in 2019, signing his first professional deal just this summer.

Leaburn made his debut off the bench in a 2-2 draw with Accrington Stanley on the opening day of the season, scoring on his debut to net his side’s second goal in that game and it was a 94th minute strike which looked set to be the winner, until Accy went up the other end moments later to snatch a point.

CURRENT FORM

Following an accumulation of 16 points from their opening 13 league matches this term, Charlton currently sit 11th and 4 points behind the Play-Off places.

Ben Garner’s side are unbeaten in their last 3 league games but have only managed 1 win from their last 9, beating Exeter City by 4 goals to 2 at The Valley last time out.

The previous encounter between The Blues and The Addicks resulted in defeat for Danny Cowley’s side, who lost 2-1 at Fratton Park back on January 31st thanks to a first-half strike from Conor Washington and a second-half own goal by Clark Robertson.

Will it be back to winning ways in the league for Pompey, or will Charlton be the 4th side in a row to deny the Blues of all 3 points?

Pompey Live returns for all of the unmissable action of this latest League One battle, as Portsmouth take on Charlton Athletic away from home! Robbie James, Henry Deacon and Jay Sadler will be on hand to provide coverage of this one from 7pm on Monday evening (Kick-Off: 8pm).