Tomorrow's formation?

After his defence was cut to ribbons at Pompey, Curbs is unlikely to stick with 4-4-2 and may revert to 4-5-1 against a physical Bolton side. With Bartlett out injured, the nearest thing we had to a vaguely reliable goal scorer, the question then arises, who will be the target man up front? The most likely, if not inspiring, answer is Kevin Lisbie with JJ giving him service down the wings, a role he can perform quite well.

There will continue to be calls for Jeffers to start with opinion divided about his performance at Pompey between those who thought he lacked good service and hence couldn't display his skills and those who thought it was evidence of his lack of skill in the first place. He was certainly more committed than he has been in some matches, but success in the Premiership requires more than commitment.

Bolton will regard it as an easy three points and will go for an early goal, conceded too often at The Valley this season. If that happens, it will be difficult for Charlton to get back into it. Hence it is important to keep defensively tight in the opening phase of the game, but with El Karkouri still out that will not be easy. In many respects his dismissal derailed our season.

Having had his nose straightened early in the week, Kishishev remains doubtful, although he would be a good player for a scrap of this kind. It will be interesting to see what the Fink Tank says tomorrow, but I guess that they will give their biggest percentage to a Trotters win, followed by a draw. It has rarely been easy being a Charlton fan.