17 Years ago today, Charlton Athletic triumphantly returned to The Valley after a seven year absence from SE7. Jonjo Shelvey was a baby, and Rob Elliot was one of the youngest fans in attendance at the game.
Since then, the Addicks have been to the top of the Premier League and back and although we may not have seen the best of times in recent seasons, things are finally starting to look bright for the future of the club.
Charlton welcome Southend United this afternoon as they look to ensure The Valley continues to be an undefeated fortress this season. The Shrimpers currently sit in 13th place in League One having lost their previous two games against Tranmere and Norwich respectively.
The Addicks on the other hand are unbeaten in four and have scored 9 goals in their past two home outings, conceding only 3 in the process.
Charlton will undoubtedly be looking to continue their free scoring home form today, especially with the knowledge that the next visitors to The Valley are fierce rivals Millwall, who will want nothing better than to leave SE7 on the 19th with 3 points.
Southend will not be a walkover however, as their results this season have shown, with victories over MK Dons and Bristol Rovers and draws against Leeds and Huddersfield, Southend are more than capable of providing an upset against the Addicks.
In terms of Addicks team news, Kelly Youga is hoped to be fit after being unavailable against Brighton in midweek, and Frazer Richardson is back in training however, this does not guarantee that he will be able to play today.
The main issue that Phil Parkinson will be faced with is in central midfield, as Jose Semedo is suspended for today’s fixture after he collected his 5th yellow card of the season on Tuesday night, Therry Racon, Jonjo Shelvey and Matt Spring will all be competing for Semedo’s vacant position.
With this in mind, my prediction for the starting line up is:
GK: Rob Elliot
RB: Kelly Youga
CB: Sam Sodje
CB: Christian Dailly
LB: Grant Basey
RM: Lloyd Sam
CM: Jonjo Shelvey
CM: Nicky Bailey ©
LM: Therry Racon
CF: Deon Burton
CF: David Mooney
Subs: Darren Randolph, Frazer Richardson, Elliot Omozusi, Matt Spring, Scott Wagstaff, Akpo Sodje, Izale McLeod
Come on you Addicks!