Goals from Daryl Murphy and Freddie Sears have given Town a 2-0 half-time lead over Charlton at the Valley.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles returned at right midfield in place of the injured Kevin Bru in an otherwise unchanged Blues side with Freddie Sears again on the left of a 4-4-2 formation.

Winger Larsen Touré, a regular sub in recent weeks, also missed out due to a knock with U21s defender Joe Robinson, 19, on the bench for the senior side for the first time in a competitive match.

Charlton named an unchanged team including former Town loan keeper Stephen Henderson and one-time academy schoolboy Morgan Fox. Another ex-Blues academy youngster Nick Pope, a keeper who was released at 16, was amongst the subs.

The Addicks started on the front foot but hadn’t created an opportunity before the home fans staged their planned protest against the club’s owners with the vast majority holding up A4 cards bearing the legend ‘Stand up for the 2%’ for a minute after two minutes.

Ademola Lookman struck the game’s first shot from the edge of the area in the fourth minute but the ball hit a defender and deflected behind.

Town started to get more into the game and in the 11th minute they had their first shot, Henderson saving Brett Pitman’s low effort from the edge of the box.

Soon after, the Blues went even closer when Pitman crossed from the right and Daryl Murphy rose highest to nod just past the far post. As the Charlton keeper prepared to take the goalkick, Addicks skipper Johnnie Jackson was replaced by Chris Solly having picked up a knock.

The Blues had got themselves on top after making a slow start and on 16 Pitman twice almost conjured a chance with a couple of clever flicks at the near post from Jonas Knudsen’s cross from the left, but the ball was bundled behind.

From the resultant corner, Maitland-Niles’s kick reached Jonathan Douglas but his header, which looked to be on target, hit Sears, who was unable to get in a shot at goal.

Town continued to look the more dangerous side and on 18 Luke Chambers’s cross from deep on the right was deflected up in the air and reached Sears on the left, from where he hit a low volley which Henderson did well to get down to stop.

Referee Scott Duncan was the subject of Town protests in the 23rd minute when he stopped play with the Blues breaking to allow Johann Berg Gudmundsson to receive treatment after he was struck a painful blow in the groin by a Tareiq Holmes-Dennis shot.

Lookman shot wide in the 26th minute for Charlton but two minutes later the Blues went in front.

Charlton repeatedly failed to clear following a corner on the left, during which time Pitman had forced Henderson to save, and after the ball was nodded back into the area Tommy Smith nodded across goal and Daryl Murphy headed in his fifth goal in three games from close range to make it 1-0.

The lively Lookman got into a good position on the left of the area just before the half hour but Gerken came off his line sharply to block his shot.

Town, by now with Pitman playing deeper and Sears up front with Murphy in a system similar to Charlton’s diamond, weren’t too far away from a second in the 36th minute, Douglas just failing to get enough on his header from Murphy’s cross from the right.

Jordan Cousins headed Fox’s right-wing cross to Gerken a minute later but without testing the Blues keeper.

Deep in first-half injury time, Town doubled their advantage when Chambers played in Sears in space on the right of the area and the former Colchester man’s effort took a deflection before beating Henderson at his near post. It was Sears’s fifth goal of the season and his first for 10 league games.

Charlton threatened to pull a goal back in the remaining minutes of injury time through a goalmouth scramble following a corner with the danger eventually cleared via Christophe Berra and Smith headers.

Once the ball was cleared, Town broke away and Fox picked up the game’s first yellow card for pulling back Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

Soon after referee Duncan blew his whistle to end the first half with the Blues having put themselves in a good position to record their fourth successive win at The Valley.

Having started slowly, Town got on top and had created chances prior to Murphy’s goal. The second just before the break was a bonus with the Blues seemingly happy see the half out at that stage. Nevertheless, Sears fully deserved to get on the scoresheet given his excellent recent performances.

Charlton: Henderson, Holmes-Dennis, Bauer, Sarr, Fox, Diarra, Cousins, Jackson (c) (Solly 13), Gudmundsson, Makienok, Lookman. Subs: Pope, Lennon, Ba, Ghoochannejhad, Vaz Te, Ahearne-Grant.

Town: Gerken, Chambers (c), Smith, Berra, Knudsen, Skuse, Douglas, Maitland, Niles, Sears, Murphy, Pitman. Subs: Bialkowski, Malarczyk, Parr, Robinson, Coke, Tabb, Oar. Referee: Scott Duncan (Northumberland).

Photo: Action Images

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