Charlton v Newcastle United
After the excitement of Thursday's cup quarter-final at The Valley - not to mention an electric atmosphere inside the stadium - Charlton must prepare themselves for another key Premiership fixture in SE7.
Level on 39 points with Sunday's opponents Newcastle United, there's an opportunity for progression up the table for either side.
The match should be Alan Shearer's final visit to SE7 as he prepares to hang up his boots, while it will be Scott Parker's first trip to The Valley as a visitor.
It's a big ask to switch the attention back to a Premiership campaign that is showing few signs of catching fire, but that's what the Charlton camp has to do this weekend.
The Addicks threw everything they had into Thursday night's FA Cup quarter-final against Middlesbrough, and the gargantuan effort applied to the club as much as the players.
Tony Christie, a new set of pre-match tunes and even Hermann Hreidarsson and Darren Bent issuing a war-cry on the big screen prior to kick-off all played their part - but just didn't turn out to be enough for the Addicks to advance to the semi-finals.
But at least Charlton remain one of the five clubs that remain in this year's competition and, as Alan Curbishley pointed out after the game, the FA Cup excitement will continue for a couple of weeks yet.
As well as having another FA Cup quarter-final to look forward to, the Charlton chief will have taken heart from what was among the best performances of the season.
It's tempting to say it was a throwback to the beginning of the campaign when the team was playing an unusually expansive brand of football, but that wouldn't be strictly true.
The display was more reminiscent of what you would call 'typical' Addicks performances, where the energy and desire of the players was more than a match for the star-studded opposition.
Though Charlton have beaten Boro and Liverpool at The Valley recently, it was a substantial improvement on both of those showings, and Curbishley will no doubt be endeavouring to harness what he saw on Thursday and channel it into Sunday's Premiership meeting with Newcastle United (2pm).
A top-10 finish remains very much within the Addicks' range, and with Curbishley recently revealing how delighted he is to be in the comparatively unusual position this time of year in that he has a 'clean bill of health', Charlton could yet mount a late surge.
The opposition
The Magpies actually looked set to do something similar themselves when Glenn Roeder replaced Graeme Souness at the beginning of February; the Tynesiders following a dismal run with four wins from the next five matches - the exception being Charlton's 0-0 draw on Tyneside.
Newcastle recorded wins against Portsmouth, Aston Villa, Everton and Bolton Wanderers and seemed full of confidence going into huge contests against Manchester United and Liverpool, but Roeder's side couldn't maintain the pace and slumped to disappointing 2-0 and 3-1 defeats respectively over the past fortnight.
It has meant that, like the Addicks, United are still to reach the 40-point mark, with goal difference the only thing separating the two clubs.
Newcastle also crashed out of the FA Cup on Wednesday night at the hands of holders Chelsea, and it seems that only an exceptional run of results over the campaign's last eight games can save their season from more underperformance.
In their defence, the club's injury problems have raged on with defender Steven Taylor recently joining Celestine Babayaro, Charle N'Zogbia, Titus Bramble and Michael Owen in the treatment room, while Robbie Elliot will miss out through suspension.
But that fact will be of little comfort to a Toon Army that has seen their side follow up top-five finishes from 2001-04 with a 14th place last season and what is shaping up to be another term of mid-table obscurity this year.
Head to head
Newcastle need results fast, but The Valley hasn't been the Geordies' most fruitful away ground.The Magpies have made six trips to SE7 with only one victory - a 2-0 win in 2002/03 - but the Addicks have also claimed just the one win themselves; Shaun Bartlett and Mathias Svensson combining to give the Londoners a 2-0 success back in February 2001.
That obviously means the sides have had to share the points on a number of occasions, with five draws arising from the 13 top-flight meetings.
The close proximity of the match, however, not to mention the colossal physical effort the Addicks produced in midweek, could mean that Curbishley will rest one or two for Newcastle.
Likely line up
The manager revealed after the game that Darren Bent wasn't 100 per cent fit and at one stage looked likely to miss out, and the England man isn't the only one that Curbishley will be pondering giving a break to.
Chris Powell rolled back the years against Boro with a performance that oozed class, and it will be a major surprise if Curbishley asks the veteran full-back to do it all over again this weekend.
Luke Young hasn't nearly as many miles in his legs, but the defender worked the right flank tirelessly before engaging himself in an exhausting battle with substitute Marc Viduka, and Young could also be spared a second 90 minutes in four days.
Darren Ambrose will probably come back into the frame after missing out altogether against Boro, especially with Thomas producing a high-octane display and Dennis Rommedahl also featuring.
In addition, Marcus Bent has resumed full training following his hamstring complaint and could well come into the picture.
With both sides locked on 39 points it could be classed as a six-pointer, even though both clubs are unlikely to be involved in either a relegation scrap or a European push.
A win would, however, break the magic 40-point barrier and push the victorious side to within a couple of triumphs of the European places.
Thursday night saw one of the best atmospheres at The Valley for years, and it certainly had the desired effect on the players.
If supporters could produce a bit more of the same this weekend and indeed for the remainder of the season, then only a brave man would predict the Addicks' customary end-of-season slump.
- Don't forget Sunday's game kicks off at 2pm - and the clocks go forward Saturday night!
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