Addicks boss waiting for Chesterfield pitch verdict (From This Is Local London)

Addicks boss waiting for Chesterfield pitch verdict

3:43pm Thursday 9th February 2012 in Addicks News By Paul Green

CHRIS Powell is waiting anxiously to hear whether Charlton will head north to take on Chesterfield on Saturday.

The B2net Stadium may be new but there is no undersoil heating and a pitch inspection is set to take place at 1pm on Friday.

With more bad weather on the way to the Midlands before then, the odds at the minute of the game going ahead don’t look promising.

But Powell will take the decision on the chin if it is bad news, even if it does lead to fixture congestion for his table-topping side later in the campaign.

The Valley boss said: “With the forecast there is a lot of scaremongering going on about it is minus 10, -20 and all this around the country but I believe they are going to get back to us tomorrow lunchtime.

“Once we hear that phone call we will either set off or not.

“Of course we are in the lap of the Gods if it is called off on the Saturday but we’ve been through it before with the recent Rochdale home game and also Rochdale away last year when we were already up there and the game was called off.

“If that happens then so be it but I would prefer everyone to know, especially our supporters so they don’t make the journey and then find out the game is off.”

Powell added: “You want to play your games.

“After we drew against Bury we wanted to get back to winning ways as soon as we could.

“Last Saturday’s game with Rochdale was an opportunity for us to do that but it is better that the safety is paramount for players and supporters alike. It is a shame.

“The fixture congestion will come up now but I feel the squad is big enough and I’m going to have to use it now if we are constantly playing Saturday-Tuesday for the rest of the season.

“It won’t be just me, though, everyone will be saying the same thing with regards to how many games are left.

“It is just one of those things. You just have to change your training accordingly, get as much rest and relaxation into them as you can between games and make sure they’re right when the games are on.”

Powell used last Tuesday’s game with Bury to rest leading scorer Bradley Wright-Phillips but when asked if the recent postponement against Rochdale at least gave a chance for some of his other regular starters a much needed break, the manager wasn’t entirely convinced by the idea.

“Only to a point because with the games being put onto the back burner with the ones that have been postponed, it is going to catch up with you anyway,” he explained.

“But I suppose one or two people who have got knocks they can miss a day here and there.

“Of course last weekend the players had it off because there was no point getting them in as there was nowhere to train.

“On one hand it is great that you can rest and relax for a bit but then on the other you know the games are going to come thick and fast.”

Powell also denied the recent cold snap had disrupted his squad’s training schedule too much.

“We’ve actually boxed a little bit clever, we’ve started training later in the day to give pitches a bit of time to thaw out so we’ve been training early in the afternoons,” the manager said.

“It gives the boys and everyone a bit of a lie in.

“But we’ve been able to get on grass on Tuesday and hopefully for the rest of the week.

“We were in the dome on Monday because the weather was too bad but we’ve managed to get a bit of work done.

“It is never easy for anyone, whether you are playing football, just working, going to school, the weather does play havoc with a lot of things you just take for granted.

“It has been slightly different for everyone but we’ve been able to train well.”

If Saturday’s game at Chesterfield does go ahead, it will present Leon Clarke with the opportunity to shoot down the side where he scored nine goals in 14 games during a loan spell earlier this season.

But Powell refused to be drawn on whether Clarke would retain his place in the starting XI after he was chosen to stand in for Wright-Phillips against Bury.

“He will be involved in the 19, that’s for certain, but I’ve worked on a team in my head,” the boss said.

“I haven’t really had a chance to do much work because we haven’t really had an area big enough to do 11 v 11.

“Everyone is raring and ready to play, the only one who isn’t is Darel Russell because he is still suspended.

“Chesterfield are fighting for their lives already.

“I know they like to play, John Sheridan is renowned for his teams trying to play.

“Whether they stick to that because of the position they are in we will have to wait and see.

“We’ve had them watched, we’ve prepared and done our homework as we always do.

“They’ve got the fill up of being at Wembley, which is great for them.

“Any club going to Wembley it is superb for the players, the management and the supporters to have their day there but I’m sure John would swap that day for guaranteed status in League One next year.

“It is a tough game for us, top v bottom but of course we know what football is like, we are going to have to be right and ready.

“But we do like playing away, that is one good thing.

“Our away form has been very good this year and I want us to keep that going.”

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