With visitors Charlton Athletic bang in-form, the Bantams face another difficult challenge this weekend when they face off with the Addicks on Saturday afternoon. With the Bantams struggling of late with 4 losses in their 7 previous matches in all competitions, Charlton will fancy their chances of grabbing the three points on their visit to Valley Parade.
Bradford have been up and down with their form recently and in truth have largely struggled of late with 4 losses in their last 7 matches in all competitions. Despite grabbing a 1-0 win against Cambridge on Wednesday nightin the terrible Checkatrade Trophy, again the Bantams largely failed to control the match something which seemed to come naturallyat the start of the season. Unbeaten in our first 12 League One matches at the start of this season we looked dominant. Solid at the back and exciting going forward things started out rosy for McCall & co. Now I’m not saying our performances have been that poor recently but with losses to Southend and Swindon on the road of late we’re struggling to convert our chances once again.
As most fans would agree, this is what denied us a real shot at promotion last year. Granted we reached the play-off semi-finals last season but on that occasion Millwall took their chances and went to Wembley instead. Come January and the transfer window we need to add to our front line. Defensively with Tony McMahon returning, we are solid and are a match for any strike force in the league but we’re still short up top in terms of raw goal scoring ability.
As mentioned before, Tony McMahon is available for our clash with Charlton at the weekend. His injury has proven to be a huge loss for us. Stephen Darby as always has performed well at right back but McMahon’s forward thinking play has been missed greatly. With 2 goals and 2 assists to his name prior to his time on the sidelines, we’ve missed his impact going forward on the right hand sidewhich is similar toJames Meredith’s on the left, it can’t be under estimated.
Charlton are in contrasting form. Only losing once in their last 8 League One matches, the Addicks have had thumping wins against leaders Scunthorpe and Bristol Rovers in that time. Despite a poor start to their league campaign recent results have seen Charlton climb to 11th spot in the league, now just two points outside of the play-off places. Athletic also have a game in hand on the rest of league.
Conceding just one more goal than us in the league so far this season, Charlton look solid at the back and very dangerous going forward. With the likes of Ademola Lookman, who’s being courted by Premier League clubs of late, and Nicky Ajose up top, the Southerners have plenty of goals in them and could prove to be a real handful for our defence on Saturday afternoon. I’d say defensively it has to be one of the toughest tests we’ve faced this season.
Withnew boss Karl Robinson, this being his first test in the league in charge of the Londoners, the future at least on the pitch looks a bit brighter for fans of the Charlton Athletic.
