Charlton Athletic fans will be hoping that Ben Garner fires their beloved Addicks back up to the Championship.
The Valley side are set to embark upon their third consecutive season in League One and the south-east London side finished 13th last season.
Garner takes over the reins at the Valley from Johnnie Jackson after guiding Swindon Town to the League Two play-off semi-finals last season.
The Robins were beaten on penalties by Port Vale who sealed promotion to League One by beating Mansfield Town 3-0 at Wembley.
Charlton kick off the 2022-23 League One campaign with a trip to Accrington Stanley, who finished one place above the Addicks last season, on Saturday, 30 July.
Charlton finished closer to the relegation places then the play-off positions last season. Wycombe Wanderers clinched the final play-off spot and the Addicks, who amassed 59 points, finished the campaign 24 points behind the Chairboys.
Gillingham, who were relegated to League Two, finished 20th and Charlton closed the season 19 points ahead of them.
After securing a mid-table finish, Garner will be targeting improvements and after raiding his former club with a couple of signings already, it’ll be interesting to see how Charlton fare this season.
HITC Sport takes a look at how Charlton Athletic could line-up on opening day of 2022-23 League One campaign.
How Charlton Athletic could line-up on opening day of 2022-23 League One campaign
Garner has signed former Swindon goalkeeper Joe Wollacott who made 39 appearances under his manager last season.
The 10-time Ghana international, who started all three of the Black Stars’ African Cup of Nations earlier this year, was however dropped by Garner at the end of last season and didn’t play any part in the last six games of the season, including the play-off semi-finals.
The 25-year-old looks set to compete for the number one position with Craig MacGillivray who made 43 appearances for the Addicks last season following his arrival from Portsmouth.
Wollacott has been joined at the Valley by fellow former Swindon town man Mandela Egbo.
The right-back only joined the Robins in March following his release from New York Red Bulls, but after impressing Garner, the 24-year-old will likely be Charlton’s number one right-back ahead of the new campaign.
With Egbo potentially slotting straight in at right-back, fellow new signing Steven Sessegnon, who arrives on a season-long loan from Fulham, could be deployed at left-back.
The 22-year-old spent the second half of last season on loan at Plymouth Argyle.
Joining Akin Famewo at the heart of Garner’s defence could be Eoghan O’Connell who has made the move to London after three years at Rochdale where he made 131 appearances.
The former Celtic man made 13 first-team appearances for the Hoops which included an outing in a 7-0 Champions League defeat to Barcelona at the Nou Camp.
With Garner likely to stick with his favoured 4-3-3 formation, George Dobson and Sean Clare could be joined in the engine room by Conor McGrandles, who has joined the Addicks from Lincoln City, although Alex Gilbey will fancy his chances of impressing his new manager.
With Garner yet to make any forward signings, Diallang Jaiyesimi, who is also a former Swindon Town player, but didn’t play for the Robins under Garner could be deployed on the right.
The 24-yearp-old only managed two goals and two assists last season and he’ll be targeting a better output under Garner.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Jonathan Lecko join the Addicks on loan for a third time and take up the left wing position.
The 23-year-old scored three goals last season during his season-long loan at the Valley, but with over 70 Championship appearances to his name, Garner could look to make the Birmingham City man an Addicks player once again.
The former England Under-20 international also made 14 Premier League appearances and that priceless experience playing at the top level for such a young man could appeal to Garner.
Following Conor Washington’s departure to Rotherham, the goalscoring ability is likely to fall at the feet of last season’s top scorer Jayden Stockley.
Stockley scored 13 goals in League One last season and Washington (11) was the only other Charlton player to reach double figures.
Beyond Stockley and Washington, the Addicks’ third top scorer in the third tier was Chuks Aneke who scored four goals from nine league games following his move from Birmingham in January.
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