Preview: Fleetwood Town v Charlton Athletic

19 February 2021

Fleetwood Town face Charlton Athletic on Saturday 20 February at Highbury Stadium in Sky Bet League One, and we have all you need to know ahead of the 3pm kick-off in our match preview.

Fixture: Fleetwood Town v Charlton Athletic

Competition: Sky Bet League One

Date: Saturday 20 February 2021

Kick-off: 15:00

Venue: Highbury Stadium, Park Avenue, Fleetwood, FY7 6TX

Match officials: Carl Boyeson (Referee), Richard Woodward & Conor Brown (Assistant Referees), Kevin Mulraine (Fourth Official)

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FLEETWOOD TOWN

Town are looking to build on their recent home form on Saturday, as the side are currently three games unbeaten at Highbury Stadium.

In Town’s last outing, Simon Grayson’s side fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat to Plymouth Argyle at Home Park. The Pilgrims got the decisive goal when Byron Moore’s cross was turned into his own goal by defender Harrison Holgate. The Cod Army piled the pressure on the Argyle defence, creating chances of their own, but couldn’t find a way past goalkeeper Michael Cooper.

The time before that, Fleetwood put three past high-flying Doncaster Rovers at Highbury, winning the game 3-1 on the day. The visitors opened the scoring early on through Jason Lokilo but a barrage of attacks wore down the Donny defence before Kyle Vassell, Paddy Madden, and Danny Andrew all found the back of the net in the second half.

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CHARLTON ATHLETIC

Lee Bowyer’s side are sitting just outside the play-off spots in League One at the moment and will be looking to close the game to the top six at the weekend.

Last time out, Charlton lost out in a 3-2 defeat to Gillingham at The Valley last week. Oliver Lee opened the scoring in the first minute of the game for the Gills, but Chuks Aneke was able to bring the game level after 15 minutes. Connor Ogilvie and Jayden Stockley carried on the scoring for both sides, but it was a Kyle Dempsey strike that sealed the points for the away side late on.

Charlton managed to win their last away game, which was in Greater Manchester as they beat Rochdale 2-0 at the Crown Oil Arena. Aneke opened the scoring seven minutes in, and Adedeji Oshilaja added the second just before the half-hour mark.

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ONE TO WATCH: JAKE FORSTER-CASKEY

One to watch from Charlton is midfielder, Forster-Caskey. The 26-year-old is an ever-present in Charlton’s line-up who has managed to score four goals so far this season for the Addicks.

Forster-Caskey started his career at Brighton & Hove Albion back in July 2009 and went on to spend the next seven-and-a-half seasons at the seaside club. The midfielder made over 80 appearances for the side in that time but spent a lot of his time there out on loan.

His first loan spell came in 2012 when he went out to Oxford United on a six-month deal. In his short time there, he featured in 20 games and found the back of the net on three occasions, with his first coming in a 2-0 win over Bristol Rovers on his second appearance.

Next up for the Southend-born player was MK Dons, where he spent two separate loans in a single season. The initial loan saw him only play in five games, but he seemed to impress as they renewed his loan in January 2016, keeping him there for the rest of the season. Another 18 appearances would follow whilst at Stadium MK before he went back to his parent club.

A short loan to Rotherham followed before he made his first permanent move of his career to Charlton in January 2017. In the four years, he’s spent at The Valley, he’s bagged 11 goals in almost 100 appearances from the midfield and is close to reaching that triple-digit milestone for the club.

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WATCH TOWN ON iFOLLOW!

Supporters can now purchase video match passes for Fleetwood Town’s Sky Bet League One clash against Charlton Athletic on Saturday.

With fans still unable to attend games, the iFollow match pass is your best option to watch the Cod Army play.

Simon Grayson's side are set to host Charlton in a league clash at Highbury on Saturday and you can watch the game for just £10!

If you'd like to purchase your match pass, click HERE.

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Match Previews

Match Reports

Report: Points shared in Charlton draw at Highbury

20 February 2021

Fleetwood Town shared the points at Highbury Stadium as they drew 1-1 with Charlton Athletic on Saturday afternoon.

The visitors took the lead early on as loanee Jayden Stockley lost Harrison Holgate before heading it in from five yards. Simon Grayson’s side worked their way back into the game just before half-time as Paddy Madden finished off a brilliant move, which meant the points would have to be shared.

Charlton took the lead in the game with the first chance as Andrew Shinnie cut past his marker before crossing into the Fleetwood box, towards Stockley, who headed it in at the near post.

Town almost equalised straight away as Janoi Donacien burst down the right-wing and played a cross to the near post, where Paddy Madden was, but his looping header went just over the crossbar.

The pressure carried on as Kyle Vassell worked two chances in quick succession. The first was when he broke the offside trap and shot just wide from inside the Charlton area. The shot shortly after was assisted by Donacien, he turned on the edge of the box and struck the ball straight at Ben Amos.

Eight minutes before the half, Matthew Smith latched onto a through ball which evaded the Fleetwood back-line, but his close-range strike was stopped brilliantly by Alex Cairns.

Fleetwood drew level just before the break as Mark Duffy played a one-two with Vassell, and after getting the ball back at his feet, he drilled a low-cross into the six-yard area where Madden was able to slot in into the back of the net.

The away side was pinned back at the start of the second half as well but managed the Cod Army’s attacks well. It wasn’t until the 53^rd minute when Madden played a perfect through ball to Vassell, whose shot was aimed at the top left corner and needed saving by Amos.

Five minutes later, Vassell had two more attempts to put Town ahead in the game but Amos was on hand to save both attempts from inside the away side’s area.

Madden almost secured his brace 20 minutes from the end as he got on the end of a lobbed through-ball and tried to catch the goalkeeper off guard, but he ended up making a one-handed save before pushing the ball to safety.

The last chance of the game fell to the home side just before the full-time whistle as Danny Andrew played a short pass to Madden on the edge of the Charlton area, but his half-volley went just past the near post.

Town XI: Cairns (GK), Andrew, Connolly, Duffy, Rossiter, Madden (C), Vassell, Donacien (Burns 76’), Batty, Holgate, Hill.

Subs not used: Coleman (GK), Camps, J.Morris, Saunders, Biggins, Rydel.

Addicks XI: Amos (GK), Gunter, Oshilaja, Famewo, Stockley, Shinnie, Pratley (C) (Watson 57’), Smith (Morgan 57’), Maatsen (Purrington 61’), Millar, Schwartz (Washington 57’).

Subs not used: Harness (GK), Pearce, Jaiyesimi.