It was a busy end to the transfer window for Charlton Athletic, the signatures of Elliot Lee, Harry Arter, Sam Lavelle and Jonathan Leko hugely bolstered the squad at the last minute.

The dealings have brought a wave of optimism and belief to the club, the fan base and most importantly the manager Nigel Adkins, who expressed his happiness with the group of players speaking on the club's website this morning.

He said: "I’m sure if you got a piece of paper and wrote down all of the players we’ve got and said, ‘right, pick a starting 11 from that’. I guarantee that probably 99% of the people who did that wouldn’t pick the same team as I’m going to go and pick.

"Ultimately we’ve got a group of guys and competition for places drives performance. That’s what we need."

The Addicks host Cheltenham Town on Saturday in pursuit of back to back home wins, much needed after losing three of their opening four.

It will be interesting to see which of the new signings make their full home debuts with Adkins keen to point out the selection headaches he is experiencing. Michael Duff's Robins have picked up two more points than the South Londoners in the opening stretch but come into the weekend as outsiders.

The Verdict

The proof will be in the pudding on Saturday, the Addicks are strong favourites to beat newly promoted Cheltenham and come into the match off the back of getting their first win of the season in convincing fashion, 2-0 against Crewe Alexandra.

It is at the top of the pitch that Adkins has the most options, with Charlie Kirk and Diallang Jaiyesimi expected to keep their place on the flanks but with the added competition for places of Lee, Leko and Corey Blackett-Taylor making their positions in the starting XI significantly less secure.

The new players need to gel quickly if Adkins is to begin building a top six push.