Shrewsbury Town will be hoping to move out of the drop zone in the League One standings when they head to The Valley to face Charlton Athletic on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts will be looking forward to returning to their home patch after three successive away games, and a victory here could take them up to eighth place by the end of the weekend.
Match preview
© Imago
After a solid end to 2024 when they won three and drew one of their final four games, Charlton Athletic got the New Year off to a very poor start, held to a goalless draw by Reading before suffering back-to-back defeats to Preston North End and Rotherham United.
However, the Addicks did manage to notch up their first win of 2025 in midweek when they came back from a goal down to beat Bolton Wanderers 2-0 on the road, which also saw them leapfrog Mansfield Town into 10th place in the league standings.
Centre-back Lloyd Jones levelled proceedings for Nathan Jones's side in the 71st minute, while Karoy Anderson completed the comeback with the winner four minutes before the final whistle.
Notably, the victory over Bolton marked the end for the Trotters' now-former boss Ian Evatt, who was sacked after the defeat, while for Charlton, it was the perfect outcome heading into a period in which they have four home games in their next five.
The hosts will be looking to follow up with another three points here, having beaten this opponent 1-0 in the reverse fixture at The Croud Meadow in September to extend their unbeaten record against this opponent to six.
© Imago
Meanwhile, Shrewsbury also got the New Year off to a poor start, drawing against Blackpool and losing to Leyton Orient, but they pulled off arguably their biggest win of the season last week, beating promotion chasers Wrexham 2-1 at home.
John Marquis gave the Shrews the lead in the 17th minute, but they were pegged back six minutes later; however, he got what turned out to be the winner early in the second half, netting a rebound after Arthur Okonkwo denied him from the spot.
That result saw the Red Dragons miss out on an opportunity to go top of the table, while it took the Blues to 20 points, nine of which have now come in their last six league games since December 21 (W2 D3 L1).
While the visitors will be looking to build on that morale-boosting win last week, their away record suggests it will not be easy, as they have failed to win any of the last six matches on their travels and have only earned six points on the road all season (W1 D3 L8).
Team News
© Imago
After an impressive performance last week, Charlton boss Nathan Jones revealed that he is "very confident" that the club will be able to agree a contract extension with Lloyd Jones this month.
The former Cambridge United man is due to be a free agent in the summer but has started the last six games on the bounce for the Addicks, and will likely resume his partnership with Macaulay Gillesphey in the heart of the defence this week.
Aaron Pierre was withdrawn at the break against Wrexham last week with a hamstring injury and he will likely be replaced in the starting lineup by Toto Nsiala, who put in an impressive performance after coming on last time out.
Morgan Feeney and Alex Gilliead also picked up knocks in the game against Phil Parkinson's side, with both players coming off, but neither have been ruled out for this weekend's trip to the capital.
Charlton Athletic possible starting lineup:
Maynard-Brewer; Mitchell, Jones, Gillesphey, Edwards; Coventry, Docherty; Small, Barry, Campbell; Leaburn
Shrewsbury Town possible starting lineup:
Blackman; M Feeney, J Feeney, Nsiala; Hoole, Gilliead, Ojo, Benning; Castledine; Lloyd, Marquis
We say: Charlton Athletic 2-2 Shrewsbury Town
While Shrewsbury still have plenty of work to do to maintain their League One status, they have been on an upward trajectory recently with just one defeat in their last six games, and we feel they may be able to take something from this match as well.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
