clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Match Preview: Charlton Athletic vs Wigan Athletic

The first League away day of the season, and I think we all must have our fingers crossed that it is going to be a lot better performance by the lads than the past two games have been. There will be changes, as Rosler continues to see just which is is best starting 11.

Justin Setterfield

People have already begun to moan about rotation within the squad again this year. Two things though automatically spring to mind with Uwe Rosler rotating the squad this early on. First of all he is trying to get the lads up to speed with half the midfield not having had a full pre-season and second of all has it occurred to anyone that he may not know his strongest starting 11? Personally I am not sure who would be mine at the moment and I don't think Rosler does either.

That is partially down to injuries and also down to the poor form of some members of the squad. There are a few players that I would expect to see at the weekend, one of those being Callum McManaman. The winger was one of the stand out players against Reading meaning Callum will more than likely be part of our attacking line up. But who will join him?

Martyn Waghorn has played both of the last two games, while Shaun Maloney managed 90 minutes in mid-week; that only leaves young Ryan Jennings as the final attacking wide option not yet to feature, could he be given a chance against Charlton? Now that would be an interesting choice for me, a player who showed what he is capable of in pre-season, why not throw him in early and see what he is made of. Sometimes that is just the thing young players need.

It has however been the midfield where the really headache lies for Rosler. No true attacking midfielder as of yet, and we are also short of midfielders who have had a full pre-season, and with two first picks out it has been hard shuffling the pack. James McArthur will be a name on the team sheet it is a case of who joins him. Emyre Huws showed that he can fit into the side and looks fit enough to play so who is the third player? A very tough decision and one I think that will come down to how well they have trained this week.

Leaving the only truly easy headache the defense. Although we have looked disorganized at time everyone is fit and if played in the right structure could well prosper and keep us in the hunt through out the season. Does Rosler stick to the back four which looked very flimsy against Reading or switch to a back five? I would say it will remain a back four and I get the feeling that Ivan Ramis will make an appearance at the weekend alongside Emmerson Boyce.

So that's enough of us, what about Charlton Athletic?

Well after Jose Riga steered them to survival the manager walked out and Bob Peeters was brought in to replace him. They have looked high and low to recruit players this summer Charlton bring in 11 new players, that lot will take their time to settle in.

Yet Charlton have it the ground running and managed a draw in the League and a League Cup win.

They managed to gain a draw against Brentford last weekend after taking the lead through Igor Vetokele they were pegged back to the 1-1 draw. That was followed up by a 2-1 win at Fartton Park against League Two Portsmouth on Tuesday night.

Spirits down at the Valley going into their opening game then are going to be high and Wigan will need to be on top form to get something from the game. Last season the two teams could only manage a very drab 0-0 draw as Lee Nicholls made his League debut for the club. This time around hopefully we will see goals, and plenty of them for Wigan Athletic.