Match Preview: Rochdale vs Charlton Friday, 5th Feb 2021 20:15 by atthepeake Rochdale look to earn a first home win since the 3rd of October as they welcome Charlton Athletic to Spotland on Saturday. Date: Saturday 6th February 2021 A brace from Alex Newby secured the three points for Brian Barry-Murphy's men down in the South-West in a performance that perhaps lacked the attacking inventiveness of other recent matches, but involved slightly more defensive solidity thanks in no small part to a man of the match performance from Gabriel Osho. The Luton Town loanee was playing in only his third game for the club and he will be joined by up to three new arrivals in the match day squad on Saturday afternoon as a hectic deadline day saw Fabio Tavares leave for Coventry City and Kwadwo Baah agree a deal to join Manchester City in the summer, although the club are yet to officially announce that transfer. Baah will remain at the club until the summer and will hope to re-take his position in the starting line-up this weekend having been introduced as a substitute to replace Stephen Humphrys at the Memorial Stadium. Another addition to the squad on deadline day was Conor Shaugnessy, former of Leeds United. The Irishman brings versatility and pedigree and will look to provide cover for the likes of Eoghan O'Connell and Paul McShane, who both continue to miss out with injuries. Little is known as to the self-isolation periods that Ryan McLaughlin and Jay Lynch are currently undertaking, but Jimmy Ryan seems unlikely to return for this game also having not yet played so far this season. Jake Beesley has also been a noticeable miss in recent fixtures, leaving Stephen Humphrys, who was withdrawn before full-time on Saturday, a little isolated up top. Having shaken off the hoodoo of no wins in 2021, attention for Brian Barry-Murphy now switches to improving his team's home form. Prior to this visit of Charlton, Dale have won just one of their 16 home games in all competitions so far this season, way back at the start of October when Fabio Tavares scored the winner against Fleetwood Town. With other teams around them dropping points, the victory in Bristol saw Dale put a slither of distance between themselves and the relegation zone but they now must capitalise by improving their home form and forging a bigger gap between themselves and the bottom four. Two stunning goals from Kwadwo Baah, plus equally well-taken strikes from Matt Lund and Stephen Humphrys, had seen Dale go into the half with a 4-2 lead, but a resurgent Addicks secured a point in a 4-4 draw. Given the off-field issues that Charlton have struggled with in recent seasons, it was always difficult to tell what kind of season they would have this time around. Although Lee Bowyer has shown himself to be an effective head coach at this level, the unpredictability of surrounding, off-field matters above him have not helped his cause. Indeed, his team have started to show similar levels of inconsistency on the pitch in recent weeks. They make the trip to Spotland having won two, lost two and drawn one of their five games since that high-scoring draw in the reverse fixture last month. Diallang Jaiyesimi and Matt Smith arrived at The Valley on Boxing Day whilst Jayden Stockley has also joined the club on loan recently, giving them even more firepower than they had in their ranks for that 4-4 draw. Whether we will see an equally open match remains to be seen though as both teams will surely be expecting to turn in better defensive displays this time around. Much of Charlton's history has been written at a higher level than this, but supporters of the club have surely grown tired of some of the problems their club has had to face in recent seasons. As a supporter himself, Bowyer will want to give them something to celebrate with a play-off push at a minimum in the second half of the campaign. Rochdale: Charlton Athletic: 21 Nov 2017 - Charlton Athletic 2-1 Rochdale - League One Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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