Match Preview | Charlton v Plymouth Argyle

The Addicks will be looking for some festive cheer as they host Plymouth Argyle at The Valley on Boxing Day (3pm).

Lee Bowyer's men face an unusually-quiet Christmas period with the postponement of the trip to Peterborough United on December 29th and will be hoping to get three points on the board going into the new year as the promotion race hots up in League One.

After last week's disappointing end to proceedings at Swindon Town, Bowyer will be expecting a reaction against a Plymouth side with four defeats and one win in their last five games. The Pilgrims currently find themselves in 14th positing with six wins, four draws and wight defeats from their 18 games, so far.

Andrew Shinnie will remain sidelined with his thigh injury, while Ryan Inniss, Alfie Doughty and Akin Famewo continue their rehabilitation from their longer-term injuries.

Meanwhile, the Addicks will have Paul Smyth back in the squad after the loanee returned to full training on Christmas Eve following the removal of stitches on the knee gash sustained in last month's victory at Ipswich Town, while Albie Morgan is available again having completed his isolation period.

Charlton Boss Lee Bowyer: "“Plymouth are a good side. They had a good start to the season because they’ve got players up top that can hurt you. But they’re leaking goals at the moment, so we have to exploit that.” 

Plymouth boss Ryan Lowe: “We’ve come through a little bit of a sticky patch, and the lads were a little bit low on confidence.

“I keep saying it, we’re the new boys in the league, and we’ve got to keep learning. The last few weeks have been a learning curve, and [Saturday] showed me what type of group and character we’ve got in there.”

Charlton and Plymouth have met on 70 previous occasions with the Addicks winning 29, the Pilgrims 27 and the remaining 14 ending in draws.

The two sides have already met in SE7 this season, with the Pilgrims winning the FA Cup first-round tie 1-0 in early November.

The last league meeting at The Valley ended in a 2-1 win for Charlton as Karlan Grant scored twice to sink the Pilgrims in September 2018.

Andy Woolmer will be the man in the middle on Boxing Day. He has taken charge of 14 games, so far, this term, dishing out 48 yellow cards and no reds.

He last refereed the Addicks on the opening day of the 2019/20 season as Charlton earned a 2-1 victory at Blackburn Rovers in the Championship.

Woolmer will be assisted by Michael George and Stephen Brown, with Nicholas Cooper as the Fourth Official.

The match will be played behind closed doors and supporters are reminded to maintain social distancing guidelines and to stay away from the stadium when the match is taking place.

The December edition of Valley Review is now available to purchase online. The magazine covers all four of the Addicks' home fixtures in December and features an interview with Conor Washington. Click here to purchase.





Supporters can follow all the build-up to the game on Charlton's official Instagram account, official Twitter account and Facebook page as usual.


Charlton’s live matchday streaming service has received a major overhaul with the introduction of Valley Pass Live, a new multi-camera show hosted by Scott Minto. He will be joined by guest pundit Alan Curbishley for the broadcast which begins at 2.25pm.

Supporters will be able to watch Charlton league games this season on Valley Pass Live. All league games, except those selected for UK or international broadcast, will be available to purchase with a match pass which costs £10 in the UK and Ireland and internationally.

Supporters living abroad can purchase a season live video pass for £195, which will give them access to every game the club is allowed to stream internationally during the 2020/21 season.

Supporters who are yet to purchase a pass for Saturday's game can do so here.

Meanwhile, live audio commentary of the game will be available to Valley Pass subscribers in all countries as usual.

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