Talking points from Charlton’s FA Cup defeat at Championship side Preston – Addicks heading in right direction with dynamic duo impressing
Charlton Athletic were knocked out of the FA Cup on Tuesday night after a 2-1 defeat at Championship side Preston.
The game was due to take place last Saturday, but the Deepdale pitch was rendered unplayable after freezing over.
Here are Louis Mendez’s talking points from the game:
HEADING THE RIGHT WAY
Another step in the right direction despite with the Addicks exiting the FA Cup. “Catastrophic,” as Nathan Jones put it, defending apart, Charlton more than matched up to their second-tier hosts throughout the hastily rearranged cup tie. The momentum of a six-game unbeaten streak behind them, Jones named a strong side.
You are left to wonder if Saturday’s frozen playing surface at Deepdale, forcing the game into midweek, meant Miles Leaburn didn’t start when he may have over the weekend – one eye on the trip to Rotherham tomorrow. But other than Gassan Ahadme starting in his place, the Addicks named their first-choice 11 and picked up where they’d left off over the last few weeks.
They dominated the stats. Freddie Woodman was forced into six saves whilst Will Mannion only faced two shots on target – neither of which he had a chance with as Milutin Osmajic’sbrace fired Preston into round four. Luke Berry had hauled Charlton level shortly before the break, but it counted for nothing in the end.
Jones exclaimed afterwards that the performance was of a “Championship level” and that the club possessed a squad worthy of the second tier.
Whilst they may still have some way to go to prove that – they are sat 11th in the third tier after all – what we have seen since just before Christmas is that performances are finally starting to come together.
The Addicks look far from the side that relied on long-ball football and bypassed the midfield. Paul Heckingbottom knows that his North End outfit were given a proper game on Tuesday night.
WIDE BOYS
Two facets that had been missing during those Autumn struggles were width and pace. But now Jones has both by the bucketful thanks to dynamic duo Thierry Small and Tyreece Campbell.
Small, in particular, has proven a vital cog in the Charlton war chest after being tasked with filling in at right wing-back. The left-sided player is a rounder peg than expected in that gaping hole left by Kayne Ramsay’s injury layoff. Small is so direct – breezing past defenders with ease. He provides balance to a side that had been horribly lopsided. His end product is still a work in progress but his assist for Berry, partnered with the other three excellent crosses he delivered at Deepdale, suggests that work is being done behind the scenes. Ramsay is back in training now but doesn’t walk back into this side.
Campbell plays as a central striker but has been at his best when drifting wider to cause his own issues. His presence gives defences something else to concern themselves with.
SO WHAT NOW?
Concentrate on the league. That’s what they all say. It’s all Charlton have left now so they don’t really have a choice in the matter. Make no mistake, the Addicks have given themselves a lot of work to do if they’re going to remain part of the play-off race come May. Seven points adrift of the top six in League One, the run of one win in nine from mid-October to mid-December has stifled any room for error in the second-half of the campaign.
There’s still kinks that need ironing out in the side too. They need to be more clinical. Alex Mitchell’s error at Deepdale serves as a reminder there’s room for improvement from some of the passing out from the back as well.
But Jones had reiterated all season that he expected the side to evolve into a more fluid animal as the season wore on and we have finally seen that dream realised. If they can build on the recent displays whilst unleashing some much-needed consistency over the next four months then maybe concentrating on the league won’t be the waste of time it had been from this point onwards over the last three seasons.
PICTURE: ALAMY