Preview: Carlisle v Charlton

By John Hill on October 30, 2009 1:27 PM |

Tagged with:

If any Charlton players ever fancied having a crack at reading War and Peace, this would be the weekend to do it.

The 300 mile-plus trip to Carlisle is going to result in a lot of thumb-twiddling unless they've got some of those Nintendo things all the footballers are playing on adverts these days.

They'll also have plenty of time to think about that late Simeon Jackson strike which denied them all three points against Gillingham, and the fact that Millwall completely saved their hides by stopping Leeds from extending their lead at the top even further.

They'll be playing a side with a board plagued with "a lack of vision, direction and drive", according to outgoing Carlisle owner and chief executive David Allen. A side without captain Paul Thirlwell and Simon Lakeland, and with a question mark hovering over defender David Raven. A side who ended a run of seven games without a win last weekend against Southend, thanks to a goal from Joe Anyinsah.

Sadly, they'll also be taking to the field without keeper Rob Elliot, who's been ruled out for around six weeks with a leg injury sustained against Gillingham. Wolves keeper Carl Ikeme has been snapped up on a 28-day emergency loan, and is likely to pop up between the sticks at Brunton Park.

Dean Sinclair and Leon McKenzie are both out for the Addicks, while Frazier Richardson is a doubt.

Kickoff is 3pm on Saturday