PREVIEW: Argyle vs Charlton Athletic
The Greens host play-off chasing Charlton Athletic in their final midweek fixture of the 20/21 Sky Bet League One campaign on Tuesday night.
Unbeaten in nine, the resurgent Addicks are just two points from the Sky Bet League One play-off positions and have won three out their last five games. Their last outing saw a goalless draw against fellow play-off hopefuls Ipswich Town.
Despite the stalemale, the Addicks put in an extremely competitive performance against Paul Cook’s side, with Ipswich goalkeeper Tomas Holy keeping Nigel Adkins’ Reds at bay in the second half.
The draw with the Tractor Boys followed an impressive performance at the Stadium of Light, where Charlton overcame promotion hopefuls Sunderland 2-1. An own goal from the Black Cats’ Josh Scowen gave Charlton the lead on 31 minutes, an advantage they doubled through Alex Gilbey on 77 minutes.
Scowen cancelled out his own goal late on for the hosts, which sparked a late push for a leveller, but the visitors held onto an impressive win.
In our reverse league at the Valley on Boxing Day, the Pilgrims led twice through Luke Jephcott, but had to settle for a 2-2 draw at the Valley. The Greens’ leading goalscorer put the Pilgrims ahead on six minutes, before fellow Welshman Chris Gunter equalised in the 32nd minute. Jephcott bagged his second goal of the afternoon just four minutes later, before Marcus Maddison hit an unstoppable strike in the second half to salvage a draw for the Londoners.
Tuesday’s meeting will be the third between the two sides this season, but the first at Home Park, with Argyle coming out 1-0 winners in the Emirates FA Cup first round at the Valley – with Jephcott again on the scoresheet.
Chuks Aneke and Conor Washington are unlikely to be available for selection for the visitors, despite the attacking duo returning to training recently. Left-back Ian Maatsen missed the meeting with Ipswich last time out with a hip problem, and is a doubt for the trip to Devon.
For Argyle, George Cooper remains the Greens’ only long-term absentee. Conor Grant, Sam Woods and Gary Sawyer are all nearing a return to fitness.
The managers said:
Ryan Lowe: “It’s another tough game but it’s one we are looking forward to. I have told the boys to enjoy these challenges coming up - enjoy playing against Charlton.
“That’s what we came into this league for. Go and showcase your ability and if you do you never know where that may take you.”
Nigel Adkins: “I know the home form hasn’t been at the top of the league as well as the away form has been this season so law of averages, we’re going to get better in the games that we’ve got. We know we’ve got tough games; every game is going to be tough.
“What we’ve got to do now is take care of business now as best as we can and get ready for a very tough game away at Plymouth. It is going to be tough, but we’ve got a positive momentum about ourselves and we’ve got to keep that going.”
ARGYLE AT HOME TO CHARLTON ATHLETIC IN THE EFL
The record: P 34 W 20 D 8 L 6 F 76 A 46
The first time: 18 March, 1922. Division Three South. Argyle 3 Charlton Athletic 0
Bob Jack’s Greens beat the Addicks 3-0 on our first ever home meeting. Patsy Corcoran with a brace and Frank Richardson were our scorers.
The last time: 6 April, 2019. Sky Bet League One. Argyle 0 Charlton Athletic 2
Derek Adams’s penultimate home match in charge of Argyle a 2-0 home reversal by the promotion-chasing Addicks. Lyle Taylor opened the scoring for Charlton on 41 minutes and a Niall Canavan own goal four minutes after the break sealed the victory for the visitors.
Biggest win: We have twice beaten the Addicks 6-1. The first time came in Division Two on 8 October, 1932 during Bob Jack’s time as our manager.
Sammy Black scored a hat trick, with our other goals coming from Tommy Grozier, Ray Bowden and Jack Vidler. The second time, also in Division Two, was just over 30 years later on 27 October, 1962. Ellis Stuttard’s men found themselves a goal behind after just three minutes, but hit back convincingly through a Wilf Carter hat trick, an Alex Jackson brace and a goal from Jimmy McAnearney.
Most goals in a single game: Ten, which has been achieved twice in 6-4 victories for Argyle a little over a year apart.
The first time was on 3 October, 1959 in Division Two. The goals for Jack Rowley’s team came from a Wilf Carter hat trick together with strikes from Alex Govan, Bill Wright and Peter Anderson.
The second time was on 27 December, 1960, again in Division Two. Argyle were managed by Neil Dougall and George Taylor that day and famously avenged a 4-6 defeat against the same opponents 24 hours previously at The Valley. Wilf Carter scored five of our goals, a record for an Argyle player in a single league match, with Alex Jackson grabbing our other goal.
Tuesday's fixture kicks off at 7.45pm, and is available to stream live and worldwide on iFollow Argyle. Click here to purchase your pass.