It’s another one of them at Charlton tomorrow… a game whose outcome will again colour much of what follows.  Just as the Fulham result destroyed our confidence at a critical time, the difference between winning and losing tomorrow is colossal in terms of how the rest of it looks.  Even a draw, away point or otherwise, would be a disappointment… whereas a win would see us out of the relegation zone and everything looking rosy, for a day at least.

And a win is not impossible… the Addicks have lost seven of eight this season to our four, and what started out as teething problems of a new manager coupled with a few unhelpful injuries has picked up a bit of downward momentum – momentum that would, one suspects, be hyped to insufferable levels if they capitulate to us tomorrow.  

Chris Powell and Dan Shittu return to their old stamping ground, albeit in Dan’s case his spell at the Valley was never much more than a watching brief.  There are no ex-Orns in the Charlton line-up, but Iain Dowie, who is finding replacing Alan Curbishley a predictably sticky task thus far, is a recent adversary, and Bryan Hughes was in the Birmingham side that we beat in the play-offs in 1999.  Star turns thus far, such as there have been, have been Darren Bent, who seems to carry much of the goal threat, and loanee keeper Scott Carson.  The highly rated Jerome Thomas is back in contention tomorrow though, as may be two of Dowie’s summer recruits Omar Pouso (he of that goal for Uruguay against England) and Souleymane Diawara.