Four takeaways from Charlton Athletic’s 2-2 friendly draw at Crystal Palace

Goals from Jayden Stockley and Josh Davison earned Charlton Athletic a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace tonight.

Both sides had key men missing from their squad.

The Addicks twice came from behind. Stockley converted Albie Morgan’s corner to cancel out Jesurun Rak-Sakyi’s opener. And Davison volleyed sweetly past Vicente Guiata after a Palace player’s attempts to cut out Hady Ghandour’s cross only scooped the ball up for a strike.

Scott Banks’ thunderous strike had put Palace ahead again earlier in the second half.

Here are four takeaways from the match:

STOCKLEY OFF AND RUNNING

The big Charlton striker claimed his first goal of pre-season – the biggest surprise is that he didn’t convert Albie Morgan’s corner with his head. Instead the midfielder’s delivery just eluded the attempted flick by Sean Clare and the frontman took advantage of Palace’s hesitancy to force past Jack Butland from close range. Certainly proved a handful for James Tomkins, Marc Guehi and Martin Kelly.

DOBSON IMPRESSES – AND NOT JUST IN TERMS OF HIS DEFENSIVE WORK

George Dobson’s work-rate has been commendable in the past two matches and his eagerness to regain possession and press the opposition is going to make him a vital component of Nigel Adkins’ team. But he also showed signs he offers more than just gruntwork with two excellent crossfield passes that released attacks in the first period at Selhurst Park.

LEFT-BACK HEADACHE

With Ben Purrington ruled out after coming off in the opening stages of the Reading match, it meant that Chris Gunter filled in at left-back in SE25. Coped well with the threat of highly-rated winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, with the youngster’s goal coming after he aggressively chased a Jason Pearce backpass – blocking Craig MacGillivray’s attempt to clear. Purrington went for a scan on Monday and there are no indications yet over the extent of the injury. Bringing in another left-back looks a priority.

INNISS NOT RISKED AGAINST EAGLES

Ryan Inniss has played just 30 minutes of pre-season football and missed out on facing his former club. Charlton made clear that the plan was always for the centre-back to be kept back for Saturday’s trip to Fulham, the final warm-up before the League One opener. There was also no Alex Gilbey, Ben Watson or Ronnie Schwartz involved at Palace – with the first two not available due to Covid-19 protocols.

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD