Charlton Athletic boss Michael Appleton assesses Blackpool's threats and picks out two players the Addicks need to be wary of

Charlton Athletic manager Michael Appleton is preparing to face Blackpool for the first time since he departed the club earlier this year.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

The 47-year-old’s second spell at Bloomfield Road came to an end in January after he was dismissed by the hierarchy.

Ahead of this weekend’s fixture at the Valley, Appleton has identified the players the Addicks will need to be wary of.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Speaking to Charlton’s club website, he said: “Blackpool will again be three, potentially five, at the back I would imagine.

Michael Appleton (Photographer Dave Howarth/CameraSport)Michael Appleton (Photographer Dave Howarth/CameraSport)
Michael Appleton (Photographer Dave Howarth/CameraSport)
Read More
Neil Critchley provides latest injury update on absent Seasiders pair ahead of t...

“They will be slightly different to the teams that we have played so far. When you have got the likes of Jordan Rhodes in your team you are obviously very dangerous because of the amount of goals he has scored.

They have got a lot of pace in the team, certainly on the left or right-hand side depending on what side CJ [Hamilton] plays on. They are a group that I know quite a bit about so it is going to be an interesting game.”

Appleton was initially in charge at Bloomfield Road for a short stint during the 2012/2013 campaign, before re-joining the club last summer.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Despite lasting longer than his initial stay, he was dismissed with the club sat 23rd in the Championship table.

Since taking over at the Valley last month, the former Blackpool boss has enjoyed a positive start to life with Charlton.

“We are in a good place,” he added.

"The lads are very confident - obviously the home games have been good to us of late and we want to add to that on Saturday.

“After Saturday, we have got the EFL Trophy game to deal with against Aston Villa’s U21s and then it gives us a little bit of a break due to the international break.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“You want to make sure that you are going into that period on a high, so hopefully that will be the case and we can keep that momentum going.

“The place was absolutely rocking on Tuesday night and especially once we went ahead in the game.

“The fans stayed with us in that first half and were patient. We had to be patient as a group as well. We were, we got our reward and then obviously in the second half we played very well.”