McCarthy Hoping to Start Push at Charlton Friday, 29th Nov 2013 12:17 Town boss Mick McCarthy is hoping to see his side push up the table over the course of the next week with Saturday’s visit to Charlton followed swiftly by home games against Blackburn Rovers and Huddersfield. Three games coming in such quick succession could lead to a quick rise from the Blues’ current mid-table position of 12th nearer to the play-off places. Leeds are currently in sixth with 26 points, six more than the Blues. “That’s the only way to think about it,” McCarthy said. “Charlton will be looking at us, they beat Doncaster, they’ve got Ipswich coming and they’ll be looking to get back to back wins. “We’re thinking we’ll go to Charlton and get something and then we’ve got two home games. It’s an opportunity for us.” McCarthy watched the Addicks beat Doncaster 2-0 earlier in the week and doesn’t see them being amongst the division’s strugglers this season, despite their current position of 17th: “I watched them on Tuesday night and I think they’ve got a good potent strike force with Simon Church and Yann Kermorgant, they looked a handful. “Cameron Stewart, who was playing wide right, was excellent, I thought, and the goal Dale Stephens scored was never out of the top corner from when it left his foot. It was an amazing strike. “I thought they were a real threat and it’ll be a tough game for us. But they all are, we haven’t had an easy one, I’ve not been involved in one yet. “I think having won and in the way they did, the way they played, they’ll be ready for us on Saturday.” Town grabbed their first away win of the season at Blackpool three weeks ago but McCarthy says that won’t be a significant factor, believing that that was one of his side's poorer away displays until he switched things around at the break. “We’ve been excellent away from home," he said. "Our performances have been really, really good, so I’d settle for any of the performances we’ve had at Wigan, Birmingham, Reading, QPR, just different results. “We’ll have to play well because Charlton are on 17 points, they’re looking to go level with us, and they’ve probably targeted these two games, Doncaster and Ipswich at home, as back to back wins. They’ll be fancying it.” With the three games in a short space of time, McCarthy says the next week will be a test of his resources: “We haven’t got the biggest squad in the league. There’s lots of us who have got similar sides. “What is nice is that all of them can play. I think having matches Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, a few more are going to get a game.” At the Valley, the Town boss is likely to stick with Dean Gerken in goal, Luke Chambers at right-back and Christophe Berra and Tommy Smith in the centre of his defence. Aaron Cresswell will come back into the side having served his two-match ban for his red card after the Barnsley game and Tyrone Mings will drop to the bench, despite impressing his manager. McCarthy has choices to make in the midfield but may again opt for Ryan Tunnicliffe and Cole Skuse in the centre. On the right, he could decide to recall skipper Carlos Edwards ahead of Paul Anderson, while new loan signing Jordan Graham is likely to be amongst the subs and will probably make his debut at some stage. The Town boss may give Stephen Hunt is full debut after two sub appearances believing that the 32-year-old Irishman “is fit enough for a start, he was last week”. Up front, David McGoldrick and Daryl Murphy will probably continue their partnership with Frank Nouble and Paul Taylor, if fit, likely to play a part from the bench. Taylor is a doubt with a shoulder injury suffered in last week’s defeat to Leicester, while midfielder Luke Hyam has also missed training this week due to a stiff back. Charlton will be without first-choice keeper Ben Hamer, who suffered an ankle injury in the warm-up ahead of the Doncaster match. Ben Alnwick, who played under Town boss McCarthy at Sunderland, is set to deputise. Right-back Chris Solly (knee) has returned to training but is not yet match fit, while centre-half Leon Cort (knee) will also miss out. Town just have the edge historically having won 19 games (15 in the league), Charlton 18 (15) and with nine (eight) ending in draws. The teams last met on Boxing Day at the Valley when first half goals from DJ Campbell — who had missed an earlier penalty — and Daryl Murphy saw the Blues to a 2-1 victory. Former Blue Danny Haynes hit back from the spot for the Addicks after the break but despite being under the cosh for much of the second period Town hung on for the three points. In September last year, Town fell to their second home defeat in a week as Charlton won 2-1 at Portman Road. Addicks skipper Johnnie Jackson and ex-Blues loanee Ricardo Fuller netted shortly after the break with a deflected Jason Scotland strike Town’s only reply. Blues striker Frank Nouble spent two months on loan at Charlton when a West Ham player between March and May 2011, scoring one goal in four starts and five sub appearances. No current Charlton first team player has made a senior appearance for Town, but young keeper Nick Pope was a schoolboy with the Blues academy, and a one-time Portman Road season ticket holder, before moving on to Bury Town and then the Addicks in 2011. He was recalled from a spell on loan at York City on Thursday as cover after Hamer suffered his injury. Addicks midfielder or right-back Lawrie Wilson had a trial at Portman Road in 2006 during his previous spell at the Valley. He moved back to Charlton in the summer of 2012 after impressing at Stevenage. Saturday’s referee is Scott Duncan from Northumberland, who has shown 28 yellow cards and no red in 14 games so far this season. Duncan, a namesake of Sir Alf Ramsey’s predecessor as Town manager, will be taking control of his first Town match. Squad from: Gerken, Loach, Chambers, Veseli, Hammond, Cresswell, Mings, Smith, Berra, Skuse, Hyam, Wordsworth, Tunnicliffe, Edwards, Anderson, Tabb, Hunt, Graham, Murphy, McGoldrick, Nouble, Taylor.
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