Charlton Athletic face Sheffield Wednesday at The Valley on Saturday, with at least three first-team players sidelined through injury.
When speaking to Charlton Athletic's website, Nigel Adkins broke the news about the players who will miss Saturday's game:
"Ben Purrington, Alex Gilbey and Jake Forster-Caskey will be the three injured players not available for the weekend’s game.
“Ronnie Schwartz has been back in training and we’re building up his levels of fitness. Those three will definitely miss out and Ronnie probably will miss out as well."
This could be a big loss for Charlton with regular starters Ben Purrington, Jake Forster-Caskey and Alex Gilbey all absent, for what could be a very difficult game for The Addicks.
New signing George Dobson could be thrown straight into the starting lineup, replacing Forster-Caskey in midfield. Dobson arrived as a free agent after leaving Sunderland, but has already featured heavily in pre-season for Adkins' side.
In the absence of Ben Purrington, Charlton might also opt for a backline of Chris Gunter, Ryan Inniss, Norwich loanee Akin Famewo and Adam Matthews. The quartet recently played together in The Addicks' final friendly against Fulham.
The loss of key players hasn't dampened the team's spirit, Adkins told Charlton Athletic; "The spirit of the players has been excellent.
“We’ve got a lot of young players who bring a lot of enthusiasm and the senior players have been outstanding in supporting the young players and helping them in their development. We’re looking forward to the weekend’s game, it’s going to be really exciting."
Charlton face Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday's evening kick-off before travelling to Oxford United the following weekend.
The Verdict
The Addicks face tough opposition, in the form of Sheffield Wednesday, this weekend. Given the quality The Owls possess, the fixture was always going to be a difficult one. Throw in a small injury crisis and it's hard to see Charlton starting the season in a positive way.
With that being said, Charlton have made a handful of impressive signings, who should be able to fill any holes left in the side - and off the back of Wednesday's relegation, it's yet to be seen how they will adjust to the third tier.