Preview: Charlton Athletic vs. Brentford

Charlton Athletic will once again look to bring an end to their alarming descent down the Championship table when they welcome London rivals Brentford to The Valley this weekend.

The Addicks, who spent much of the first half of the campaign in the top 12 of the table, now find themselves down in 20th place, just three points above the relegation zone.

The removal of Bob Peeters and appointment of Guy Luzon has failed to have the desired effect at the club, with the Israeli boss still searching for his first win in English football.

Indeed, it is now 14 matches and more than three months since Charlton last won a game, while they have picked up a meagre six points from the last 39 on offer in the league.

The draw specialists looked to be on course for another point having come from two goals down to level things up against Norwich City on Tuesday, but a late winner for the Canaries consigned Charlton to a second consecutive defeat.

Now, for the third match in a row, they face a playoff hopeful, and failure to get anything from Saturday's match would make their visit to Wigan Athletic the following Friday a crucial game at the bottom of the table.

The Addicks have actually only lost three league games at The Valley all season, but two of those have come in their last three outings, while they haven't won in front of their own fans since October, eight matches ago.

Luzon could make a couple of changes to his starting lineup this weekend having seen Tony Watt come off the bench to score his first goal for the club on Tuesday, while Callum Harriott also helped to turn things around during the second half against Norwich.

Frederic Bulot and Johnnie Jackson could be the men to make way, but Igor Vetokele will keep his place having scored one and set up the other in the midweek defeat.

Brentford have a loss of their own to respond to, having blown a one-goal lead to lose against playoff rivals Watford on Tuesday, with the Hornets' winning goal coming in second-half stoppage time.

It was a spirited performance from the Bees, however, as they were forced to play more than half of the match with 10 men courtesy of Jake Bidwell's 38th-minute red card.

Plenty of the pre-match talk surrounded Mark Warburton's future at the club, with reports suggesting that he will be sacked as manager even if he steers Brentford to back-to-back promotions.

The board hardly quelled the speculation with a bizarre statement that refused to deny the claims, and it remains to be seen whether the growing uncertainty will derail a shock playoff bid for the Bees.

Their away form has been central to their surprising season, and they go into this weekend's match having won their last three and four of their last five on the road. Indeed, only the league's top three teams have amassed more points on their travels in the current campaign.

Warburton was forced into a reshuffle at the back following Bidwell's red card against Watford and, with options still limited in defence, he could ask Stuart Dallas to fill in as an emergency left-back from the start against Charlton.

James Tarkowski is also a doubt having picked up a dead leg in the midweek defeat, so Tony Craig could be in line for his first start of 2015.

Charlton:

Recent form: LLDDLL

Possible starting lineup: Dmitrovic; Solly, Ben Haim, Bikey, Wiggins; Gudmundsson, Buyens, Harriott, Cousins; Watt, Vetokele

Brentford:

Recent form: WWWLWL

Possible starting lineup: Button; Odubajo, Dean, Craig, Dallas; Douglas, Diagouraga, Jota, Pritchard, Toral; Gray

Sports Mole says: 0-1