With just nine games of the Championship season remaining, Charlton Athletic fans will be concerned but no doubt aware what their side are capable of when they are up against it.

Last weekend's 1-0 defeat to Middlesbrough at The Valley saw them drop into the relegation zone for the first time this season as they made it three defeats in a row and three matches where they have failed to find the net in succession as well.

The Coronavirus epidemic looks set to badly disrupt the season run-in, with the EFL announcing a suspension of fixtures until April at the earliest, so their crunch match with Hull City will now be a few weeks away still.

There is no doubt that they are truly up against it now as well. In January, there was widespread positivity when East Street Investments completed their takeover from the much-maligned Roland Duchatelet.

Can you remember where these 15 ex-Charlton players moved after leaving?

However, optimism has been completely crushed this past week. An ugly civil war between majority shareholder Tahnoon Nimer and chairman Matt Southall has broken out with both trying to force the other out the door.

The fact that they were promoted last season under shocking conditions will give many fans hope that Bowyer will be able to inspire his side to survival in the closing weeks, whenever they come, but most will simply be fed-up about what they have seen at their club in recent years.

It looked as though they were coming out of the darkness with the arrival of Nimer and Southall, but it has proven quite the opposite, with a much darker future potentially facing them now.

The players were told this week that the club's money will run out before Christmas if things are not sorted soon and fans will surely be threating that their club could be the next to crumble at the hands of wreckless owners, regardless of what happens on the pitch now.