Swindon v Charlton - Sporadik Addick

Back to the County Ground tonight and it should be an intereting tussle against pre-season promotion favourites Charlton.

The Addicks are nicely placed one point off second spot in League One and will be looking to record their third win on the bounce.

Manager Phil Parkinson was delighted with his side’s performance at the weekend and said:

“We went to Carlisle and went three-nil up, then 3-3 and winning it in the last minute but even this week has been a tough week just waiting for the Sheffield Wednesday game to come.

It was interesting to see how the lads were going to respond but I thought they were excellent today and to be fair I think the supporters know the lads give their all every week and that Brighton was a one-off result

I'm very pleased, I though it was a solid performance today. We probably got the balance right between being solid as a team and playing some good football and showing some creativity. The team showed a lot of good characteristics today and we're all very pleased.

Simon Francis and Johnnie Jackson were threatening today with their set-pieces. I was pleased for Simon because he’s put in some excellent performances but I think his best performances have been away from home so it was good for him to put in a solid performance today."



Danny Wilson will be concerned after reading those comments as his team have now shipped ten goals in the last three games. However, they have fought back to pick up draws in their last two and so the fighting spirit is obviously alive and well. Wilson showed his concern though after the Yeovil game at the weekend and said:

"You can't fault my team for effort but when you look back at the goals we have conceded we don't learn our lessons. They were really poor goals. We have to look at ourselves in certain areas and we have got to do better than that. The only trouble we had in the first half was the problems we caused ourselves. To go 1-0 up and it could have been two or three was disappointing.

To concede the goal we let in just before half-time was criminal and when they got the second one there was no danger at all. You can't tell people what decisions to make in the middle of the game. They are professional people and we can't keep protecting them."

There’s no doubt that the Robins’ central defending partnership of Scott Cuthbert and Sean Morrison will need to keep a keen eye on midfoielder Wagstaff and striker Paul Benson who have both notched up five league goals each so far this campaign.

My gut feeling says a third draw on the trot and I suspect Parkinson will be the happier of the two managers if that turns out to be the case.

While they have it in their locker, Swindon need to put a little run together now. The table in congested and two or three wins on the bounce would see them fighting for one of the promotion spots instead of looking over their shoulders.

Charlton just need to maintain their momentum. Brighton have a nine goal lead at the moment, but there’s lot of football to be played and, if the Addicks can maintain the pressure, when the Seagulls hit a bad patch they’ll be perfectly positioned to take advantage.