200925 Preview Charlton

Following midweek Carabao Cup action which saw the Imps face Premier League Champions Liverpool at LNER Stadium, Michael Appleton’s side return their focus to Sky Bet League One with Charlton Athletic the next opponent.

Sunday’s game will be available for Imps supporters to watch LIVE on WeAreImps iFollow. To get involved and see the game unfold, buy your WeAreImps match pass HERE for just £10.

Opposition Manager’s Comments

Lee Bowyer's side faced Doncaster Rovers in their last game. Charlton suffered a 3-1 defeat with Rovers leading 3-0 in the 63rd minute, former Imps' loanee Tyreece John-Jules was on the scoresheet scoring his first  goal in a Doncaster shirt. 

Northern Ireland international Conor Washington managed to get a consultation goal for Charlton just before the 70th minute, bringing his league tally to two goals in two games. 

The Charlton boss spoke to press ahead of Sunday’s clash and is hoping to see improvements from his side's last performance.

"What drives me crazy is that we created chances against Doncaster, but we didn't take them," explained Lee.

"I said to the players after the last game, it should have been 4-4. We didn’t defend well and we didn’t take our chances again. It's frustrating, very frustrating.

"Goals win games and if you don’t take your chances and do the right things in the right areas, you don’t win games. That’s the difference. You do work all week and then you play like that and make mistakes like that."

Opposition

Following the departure of Lyle Taylor to Nottingham Forest in the summer, Charlton have recruited known goal scorer Conor Washington. 

The 28-year-old has had a fairytale journey from Non-League football where he featured for St Ives Town between 2009 and 2012. Washington signed for Newport County in 2012 before moving to Peterborough United. The forward then moved to Championship side QPR in 2016 before signing a deal with Sheffield United two years later. 

Following a brief spell with Scottish side Hearts, Washington arrived at the Valley over the summer. He scored on his Charlton debut when they beat Crewe 2-0 in Sky Bet League One action. Washington added a second to his Athletic tally in as many games when facing Doncaster Rovers last weekend. 

Hady Ghandour and Lucas Ness have also arrived at the Valley, both coming from non-league clubs. 

The other notable name Bowyer has signed this summer is 25-year-old midfielder Alex Gilbey who arrived at the club from MK Dons. The midfielders started his career with Colchester before also featuring for clubs such as Newport County and Wigan Athletic. 

The Imps

Michael Appleton was pleased to take the positives from City’s Carabao Cup clash against Liverpool last night. 

The Imps boss spoke about his side’s performance after the game: “We can take lots of positives away from the game.

“In the second half we came out and gave them a game. We had some great chances and should have scored more if I’m honest. We showed great character, I didn’t have too much of a concern.

“These games are great to get a better understanding of the group because it is still early days. The lads were brave and really good in the second half against a fantastic Liverpool side.”

Appleton also spoke about Callum Morton who didn’t feature in the game saying: “He’s had a scan and we’re awaiting the results.”

The City manager finished by speaking about Sunday’s opponents, praising the job Lee Bowyer has done.

"It will be a tough and difficult test," said Appleton.

"Lee has done a great job there, they have good talented players and will be disappointed with their last result.

"They've had a free week which will help them, they will want to make sure they have lots of energy in the first half and hope we haven't got that to match them after a midweek fixture.

"We will look after our players, we will hopefully show the same sort of energy in Sunday's game to what we showed against Liverpool."

WeAreImps iFollow

Sunday’s game will be available for Imps supporters to watch LIVE on WeAreImps iFollow. 

To get involved and see the game unfold, buy your WeAreImps match pass for just £10 - HERE.