Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
‘WE’LL RUFFLE THE CANARIES’
CHARLTON NORWICH
FA Cup 3rd Round, Kick-Off 2pm
TODAY’S FA Cup tie against Premier League opposition will be a welcome distraction for League One Charlton – as they prepare for fixture chaos in the second half of the season.
And Johnnie Jackson, the club’s manager – who was handed the role after a storming start as caretaker – fears for his players after a Covid-hit December has left the Addicks facing a scheduling nightmare between now and May.
Charlton were hit hard over the Christmas period, with their matches against AFC Wimbledon and Gillingham being postponed.
Having made progress in the Football League Trophy against MK Dons last week, Jackson’s men are currently fighting on three fronts.
He said: “We were disappointed that the games were off.
“We were in a good place and it’s put a stop to a little bit of the flow that we had with our training and game regime.
“We had to close the training ground and call the games off.
“But at the minute it’s part of football isn’t it? Everyone’s suffering similar headaches, and we’re no different.
“It’s going to be a really hectic period now, pretty much through to the end of the season.
“I would have concerns if we get to a period where you have to play two games in three days, where you don’t have that two-day gap.
“If you run into situations where you have to play a Tuesday, a Thursday, a Saturday, then that would be a worry for me in terms of player welfare.”
Regardless of their workload, a victory over the struggling Canaries would send Jackson’s side into the second half of the season with a spring in their step.
It would also pile the pressure on his opposite number, Dean Smith.
“They’ve got Premier League quality all through,” Jackson said. “But we can cause any team problems and we’ll be aiming to do that.”