Derby County are looking to further stamp their marker down on the playoff spots with a win over Charlton Athletic at The Valley this weekend with the Rams sitting comfortably fourth and ahead of seventh by seven points.
It's been an impressive campaign for Derby so far, and with 52 goals bagged already from just 29 outings, the club come into this one as the second-highest goalscorers and behind Peterborough United by just two points. Better yet, with only 28 goals let in, only Bolton Wanderers and Portsmouth in the top two have conceded fewer, alongside Stevenage's tally of 27.
The Rams managed to defeat Cheltenham Town last time out with two second half goals with a finish each Max Bird and James Collins. This was win number 17 for Derby and it did end a winless run of two games. Lincoln City drew 0-0 with them before a 1-0 loss to Reading, while they also suffered a 1-0 defeat to League Two's Bradford City in the third round of the Football League Trophy earlier in January.
This now means only three wins in January for Derby, as they defeated Fleetwood Town away from with a finish each from Collins, Barkhuizen and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.
Charlton are once again struggling this season with seven wins from 19 games being 12 victories fewer than Derby's tally. A further 12 defeats and 45 goals conceded put them with a terrible record this campaign and only above the bottom three by four places. However, with 43 finishes on the board and a gap of eight on the bottom three, there is still a lot to shout about for Charlton in terms of their fight to survive.
The Atticks are still only four places behind the top half of the table after a 1-1 draw with Blackpool last weekend. On the other hand, this was just their second point in 2024 so far after a 3-3 draw to Port Vale earlier in January. However, losses to Oxford United, Peterborough United, Northampton and Burton Albion in January mean a terrible run so far this calendar year, while they have also extended their winless run to 13 games, which extends all the way back to late November.
The FA Cup second round loss to Gillingham in early December, the defeat to Reading in the Football League Trophy and the defeats to Leyton Orient and Bristol Rovers alongside draws with Burton, Cambridge United and Barnsley put Charlton as one of League One's most out-of-form teams.