Carry on Drawing

Charlton drew 1-1 with Walsall at The Valley this afternoon to retain 14th place in League One. A 4-4-2 formation having succeeded against Scunthorpe, Karl Robinson decided to revert to 4-5-1. When events forced Charlton into a 4-4-2 in the second half, their performance improved.

Walsall took the game to Charlton in the first half with the Addicks defence looking vulnerable to balls over the top. Having missed chances to score, the Saddlers went ahead in the 44th minute.

Charlton improved in the second half and Tony Watt equalised, having pounced on a loose ball. The Addicks applied their strongest pressure in the last ten minutes of the game, but in the seven minutes added on it was the visitors who looked more like scoring.

On two minutes, a shot from Watt went just over the bar from 20 yards. On five minutes, Jackson had an open goal but the ball over. Aribo had to clear off the line.

Ricky Holmes was looking one of the better Charlton players. He put in a great run and a good cross, but Walsall were able to clear.

On 44 minutes Jackson broke the offside trap, found himself one on one with Rudd and scored. The referee then blew up during a Walsall attack.

HT: Addicks 0, Saddlers 1

Could Walsall secure their first away win of the year? Konsa went down in a lot of pain and Johnnie Jackson came on, Ulvestad moving to centre back.

Page was replaced by Novak. Watt put the ball in the left-hand corner of the net to make it 1-1. Charlton defended well at the expense of a corner, leading to a second. Osbourne at last got a yellow card for a foul on Holmes.

On 75 minutes a Watt shot was tipped over by the keeper. From the corner, an Aribo shot was tipped over. Byrne was unfairly booked. Bakayoko was not far off target, but there was offside in the build up.

On 83 minutes a Holmes cross nearly sneaked in but was tipped over. An Aribo shot hit a defender's arm, but the referee waved play on. On 88 minutes Watt was replaced by Ahearne-Grant. In time added on, there was great defensive work from Chicksen.

Notional attendance was 9,900 with 316 from Walsall, although the ground did look fuller than on Tuesday. One absentee was Katrien Meire who cancelled meetings arranged with fans, but it was rumoured that she is on holiday in North Korea.