Johnnie Jackson will be hoping to strengthen a few key areas of Charlton Athletic's squad in January to increase their chances of overcoming the mountainous gap between themselves and the play-off places.

The Addicks have been one of the form sides in League One since Nigel Adkins was relieved of his duties in late October. Although, they still have ten points to make up to break into the play-off places and will be looking to the FA Cup and Papa John's Trophy to keep their season interesting in the new year.

It will be interesting to monitor how much influence over transfers Johnnie Jackson has, January being his first window as manager with Adkins before him not having complete control.

Here, we have taken a look at two big transfer decisions that Jackson could need to make in the next few weeks...

Albie Morgan

The midfield trio of George Dobson, Elliot Lee and Alex Gilbey have been crucial in the Addicks' rise up the table, but their consistently excellent displays have significantly cut the playing time of academy graduate Albie Morgan. The 21-year-old has started eight matches in the league, all under Adkins, and with the likes of Jake Forster-Caskey and Harry Arter potentially returning from injury the competition is only going to get tougher.

Morgan has a contract running until the end of next season and has gone on loan from the club before. A spell playing week in week out in League Two could do him good and build some confidence. However, Jackson has a lot to ponder because Morgan is a creative midfielder where Charlton do not have as much depth in that role, if Lee was to get injured Morgan is the natural replacement and could have a further part to play in the campaign.

 

 

Elliot Lee

Charlton may have the opportunity to free up an additional loan slot if they are able to make Elliot Lee's season-long loan deal from Luton Town permanent next month. Filling your loan quota, of five per matchday squad, is fairly common in the EFL and signing Lee permanently could give Charlton the chance to bring in some game-changing younger players to impact the second half of the season.

The dynamic between Jackson and the recruitment staff will be interesting to observe, but the short term future of Morgan and Lee will be high on the new manager's priority list.