Preview: Charlton Athletic vs. Exeter City - prediction, team news, lineups

Charlton Athletic will be expecting to extend their unbeaten streak to five matches when they host Exeter City in League One on Tuesday.

The visitors, meanwhile, have lost their last two matches without scoring a goal in either of them.

Match preview

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Charlton's decision to change managers yet again when replacing Dean Holden with Michael Appleton last month has so far proven to be a decent switch, with the Addicks remaining unbeaten across three matches under the former Blackpool boss.

A home victory against Wycombe has been supported by two away draws to Stevenage and Shrewsbury Town, with Charlton picking up their first clean sheet since the opening day of the campaign last time out.

Appleton's side dominated Shrewsbury in terms of possession with an impressive 62% share of the ball away from home, but sharing the spoils was probably a fair outcome with both teams registering plenty of shots across the course of the encounter.

Having won his only league match in charge at The Valley so far, Appleton will be hoping his players can make their home stadium something of a fortress as his reign progresses, with all three points expected from them in midweek.

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Indeed, Exeter have bounced back to Earth since winning five of their opening eight games of the season, with successive defeats to Oxford United and Northampton Town seeing Gary Caldwell's side fall outside of the playoff spots.

While an away defeat to high-flying Oxford certainly represented no disaster, particularly as they bounced back to knock Premier League side Luton Town out of the EFL Cup three days later, Caldwell would have been furious with the manner of his team's defeat to Northampton last time out.

The newly promoted side took the lead through Sam Hoskins' 20th-minute strike before holding on, with Exeter only registering 10 shots in total until Patrick Brough confirmed the visitors' victory by scoring two minutes into injury time.

While the Grecians have arguably still performed above expectations at this early stage of the campaign, Caldwell will not want to see this current losing streak to continue much longer, and he will believe they have enough about them to deliver a positive result on Tuesday.

Team News

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Appleton could restore Scott Fraser to his starting XI in an attempt to find greater cutting edge in the final third, with the attacking midfielder likely to replace Terry Taylor.

However, former Arsenal striker Chuks Aneke may have to wait for his chance from the bench once again, with Alfie May continuing as a lone forward for the hosts.

Caldwell is unlikely to be as patient with his misfiring attackers, though, with James Scott poised for a recall at the expense of Sonny Cox.

Jack Fitzwater could also return to the visitors' starting XI at the heart of their defence, with Will Aimson potentially making way.

Charlton Athletic possible starting lineup:

Isted; Watson, Hector, Jones, Thomas; Campbell, Dobson, Fraser; Leaburn, May, Blackett-Taylor

Exeter City possible starting lineup:

Sinisalo; Harper, Sweeney, Fitzwater, Hartridge, Jules; Cole, Carroll, Taylor; Wildschut, Scott

We say: Charlton Athletic 2-1 Exeter City

Charlton appear to have turned a corner with the help of Appleton's experienced management, and we can envisage them inflicting a fourth defeat in five games on their opponents.

Exeter began the campaign in fine form but they have since dropped off to a large degree in recent weeks, with their natural level around mid-table likely to be coming to the fore.

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