James Heneghan's Northampton Town v Charlton Athletic preview

Date/time: Saturday, October 24, 3pm kick-off

Venue: PTS Academy Stadium

Forecast: 15C, showers

Outs and doubts: Cobblers: Joseph Mills, Joe Nuttall, Scott Pollock. Addicks: Jason Pearce, Deji Oshilaja, Alex Gilbey, Marcus Maddison

Betting: Northampton 15/8, draw 12/5, Charlton 7/5

Form guide: Cobblers WLLWLL, Addicks WWDDLL

Current league positions: 11th v 16th

Possible line-ups: Northampton (3-4-1-2): Mitchell; Bolger, Martin, Horsfall; Harriman, Missilou, Sowerby, Hoskins; Korboa; Ashley-Seal, Rose. Charlton (4-3-3): Amos; Gunter, Inniss, Famewo, Purrington; Shinnie, Pratley, Watson; Doughty, Washington, Bogle.

Man in the middle: Sam Allison

Last time out: Northampton 2 (Missilou, Rose) Swindon 1 (Smith); Blackpool 0 Charlton 1 (Aneke)

Most recent meeting: Friday, March 30, 2018 - Northampton 0 Charlton 4 (Reeves, Fosu-Henry 2, Magennis)

Record v Charlton: P33 W9 D13 L11

James Heneghan's preview: Victory over Swindon Town in midweek came at an important time for Cobblers and not only because they had lost their previous four League One fixtures.

Although the season is still young, Town were on the slide and needed to stop the rot, something made more important by one quick glance at their immediate schedule: this coming week they face two teams who were relegated from the Championship last season and another who have aspirations to return to the second tier.

But Portsmouth and Wigan Athletic can wait, first up is a resurgent Charlton Athletic. The Addicks have endured their fair share of problems off the pitch in recent years but the takeover of American-Danish businessman Thomas Sandgaard last month seems to have rejuvenated the whole club and it now looks likely that they will be among the promotion contenders this season.

Charlton were relegated from the Championship on the final day of the season but manager Lee Bowyer has been busy rebuilding his squad for a tilt at promotion. Among their 12 summer signings are Alex Gilbey from MK Dons, Marcus Maddison from Peterborough and Omar Bogle from Cardiff. They also have Man United loanee Dylan Levitt and Luton midfielder Andrew Shinnie in their ranks.

With Chuks Aneke likely to be their main source of goals, it is an impressive collection of players, and after a slow start to the season, they look to be finding their mojo.

Following five games without a win in all competitions, back-to-back 1-0 victories over Wigan and Blackpool have lifted Bowyer's men towards the top end of the table. The Addicks were helped in midweek by James Husband's red card inside the first 90 seconds, although Ben Purrington also saw red that night and is therefore banned tomorrow.

Jason Pearce, Deji Oshilaja and Gilbey also look set to miss the trip to Northampton but Maddison, who has form against the Cobblers, could return to the squad following three weeks out.

Northampton's squad might not be brimming with the same household names but Keith Curle still has plenty of options at his disposal and a first home league win of the campaign in midweek will do them no harm.

It may need to be tailored for certain games, especially against stronger opposition, but Town's first-half performance on Tuesday should act as their template going forward. They played with energy, intensity and an attacking threat, far more so than in previous encounters.

Curle will be asking for more of the same tomorrow and, against a strong Charlton team, his side may also need a repeat of the dogged defensive rearguard they produced in the second-half to emerge with a positive result.

Prediction: Northampton Town 1 Charlton Athletic 1