Charlton Athletic vs Portsmouth; Sky Bet League One
Charlton Athletic vs Portsmouth. Sky Bet League One.
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Charlton v Portsmouth preview
Friday 8 December 2017 13:15, UK
Charlton are boosted by the return of four players for Portsmouth's visit.
Ben Reeves (hamstring), Billy Clarke (calf), Harry Lennon (groin) and Jason Pearce (knee) are all back in contention. Tarique Fosu (hamstring) and Patrick Bauer (foot) are still in the treatment room, though.
Boss Karl Robinson says he will make 10 changes from the side that beat Swansea Under-21s in the Checkatrade Trophy in midweek.
Captain Brett Pitman is on course to return from injury when Portsmouth travel to south London. Pitman has been sidelined for the last three games due to a hamstring problem, but Pompey boss Kenny Jackett has delivered an upbeat fitness bulletin and said that his skipper had trained this week.
But while Pitman prepares to feature, Jackett has concerns over four other players, with every chance they could all be sidelined. Ben Close (thigh), Kai Naismith (knee), Oli Hawkins (hamstring) and Dion Donohue (back) are facing fitness fights, with Jackett set to make some late decisions.
Opta stats
This is the first time that these two sides will meet in a third-tier match since April 1981; each of the last eight league meetings prior to this match have been in the Premier League.
Portsmouth have only won one of their last nine trips to Charlton in the Football League (D2 L6), although that did come in their most recent league trip to the Valley in September 2006 (1-0).
The Addicks have lost just one of their last 13 league matches at the Valley (W9 D3), scoring 24 goals and conceding just 12 in the process.
Since drawing back to back League One matches at the end of August, none of Pompey's 16 matches since have ended in a draw (W8 L8).
Prutton's prediction
Now this is a big game in Sky Bet League One! Portsmouth are six points behind Charlton heading into the weekend, with the Addicks currently occupying the final play-off place, and will be desperate to win to start closing that gap.
Charlton's form has dipped a little of late, with just one victory in their last four, and will hope to get back to winning ways here to get back towards the automatic promotion spots. And I think they'll do just that!
Prutton predicts: 2-0 (9/1 with Sky Bet)
