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In focus: Charlton Athletic v Ipswich Town

28 November 2014

We take a closer look at Saturday's lunchtime kick-off live on Sky Sports between Charlton Athletic and Ipswich Town in the Sky Bet Championship.

Charlton come into the match after three draws in five outings, with their latest stalemate coming last time out against South London rivals Millwall. Bob Peeters' side remain undefeated at home and have lost only twice so far this term, which is the joint-lowest in The Football League.



Ipswich, meanwhile, twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with Bournemouth in their most recent match to take their unbeaten run to five. Overall, they have tasted defeat just once in 14 games.



Three points for the ninth-placed Addicks would be enough to take them into the Play-Offs ahead of the 3pm kick-offs, while the travelling Tractor Boys could overtake Middlesbrough and Bournemouth to move into the automatic promotion places.

TEAM NEWS

Hosts Charlton will be without goalkeeper Stephen Henderson so Nick Pope will remain between the sticks after he put in a solid performance against Millwall. Midfielder Yoni Buyens and striker Igor Vetokele are doubtful following recent injuries.

Ipswich will have to do without centre-back Christophe Berra, who is serving a one-match ban, but Sean St Ledger and Noel Hunt have been drafted in by boss Mick McCarthy this week. Cameron Stewart and Kevin Bru are sidelined, while left-back Tyrone Mings and midfielder Teddy Bishop may also miss out through injury.

In the goals: Ipswich front man Daryl Murphy has scored five goals in his last six appearances, with 11 overall this term.

IN THE MEDIA

Peeters, Charlton Head Coach, told cafc.co.uk: “We can only go out there, try to get the three points and, most of all, play better than we did against Millwall.

“I’m a fan of playing football and passing the ball, but we didn’t do enough of that to beat Millwall

“It’s all about putting the ball in the net and, hopefully, we can play our good football again and score good goals."

Ipswich will be followed by over 2,000 fans and manager Mick McCarthy told itfc.co.uk: “The support we had at Bournemouth was fantastic last week and it’s great that so many will be at Charlton as well.

“Charlton have had a good start to the season and are doing well. They look a real solid outfit.

“I was amazed that Chrissie Powell left them last year but they stayed up. I think they would have stayed up with Chris in charge anyway to be honest.

“They had a new manager [Jose Riga] come in and then made another change with Bob Peeters taking over and he’s done a great job.

“They have signed a lot of players and are going well. They are unbeaten at home so we know what’s ahead for us.”

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The last meeting between these two ended 1-1 at Portman Road on New Year's Day. A Richard Wood own goal had Ipswich in front before Johnnie Jackson hit a last-gasp leveller for the Addicks.



Ipswich have the upper hand over recent meetings against Charlton and they've won the last two clashes at The Valley, where the Addicks last beat the Tractor Boys in 2008. The London club's only triumph against Ipswich since then was in September 2012, when they ran out 2-1 winners on the road.

One way or another: Matches at The Valley between these two usually produce a winner, with the last stalemate coming on New Year’s Day in 1997.

SPLIT LOYALTIES: MATT HOLLAND

Midfielder Matt Holland enjoyed his most successful times as a player at both Ipswich and Charlton.

After spells with West Ham Untied and Bournemouth, Holland joined Ipswich in the summer of 1997 and quickly became the club's captain.

He helped them into the Premier League by winning the First Division Play-Offs in 2000 and then captained the club to a fifth-place finish in the Premier League, which brought qualification for the UEFA Cup.

He stayed at Portman Road when they suffered relegation back to The Football League in 2002 and was regarded as one of the most consistent performers in the club's history after appearing in 223 consecutive games and only missing one league match, due to international duty, in his six-year stay.

Holland was given a route back into the top flight with Charlton in 2003, when they secured his services on a four-year deal.

Again, he was given the captain's armband and was an ever-present in his first season at The Valley. In 2007/08 he was named the club's Fans' Player of the Year after picking up over half of the entire vote.

COVERAGE

The Sky Sports cameras will be at The Valley to capture all the action, and we'll be tweeting updates from our Sky Bet Championship divisional account - @SkyBetChamp. Join in the conversation using #Championship.

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