MICHAEL Appleton believes victory at Shrewsbury tomorrow will set Charlton up perfectly for two vital home matches next week.
The Addicks are unbeaten in two games under their new manager, who started by collecting a late point at high-flying Stevenage before beating Wycombe 3-1 at The Valley.
Appleton’s young squad are on the road tomorrow at the Shrews and then return to SE7 for a busy week which sees them host Exeter and Blackpool.
The boss is fully aware how important home form is if Charlton are to continue climbing up the table, but points out the main priority is improving things on their travels – starting tomorrow in Shropshire.
“The away games are crucial and key because they are the ones you definitely need to start totalling the points up,” he said.
“I think you would always back yourself at home like we did on Saturday against a (Wycombe) side who were full of running as you could see in the early part of the second half and full of confidence.
“But we still would back ourselves to turn teams over, whereas the away games are different.
“Our approach isn’t different, but they are different.
“I think we go into the game on Saturday full of confidence knowing if we can get the three points, from a momentum and confidence point of view going into two home games, all of a sudden things can start getting a little bit exciting again.”
Charlton head to Shrewsbury full of belief on the back of the Stevenage and Wycombe results whereas their opponents have lost three on the spin.
Asked if being favourites for the first time under his stewardship would make things different, Appleton replied: “Potentially, but I think it is one of them where these are the types of game where you learn about the players even more.
“I’m still learning about them three weeks into the job.
“Some of them are sort of doing things in a positive way that are helping me gauge an understanding of them as people, as personalities, as players.
“I hope I can speak to you after the game on Saturday knowing that the mentality of the group didn’t change just because they came up a different opposition.”
There has been some good news on the injury front in recent weeks with the likes of Miles Leaburn and Chuks Aneke both featuring in the last two games under Appleton.
And the boss hinted other players on the road to recovery could soon follow in their footsteps, potentially even at Shrewsbury tomorrow.
“They are getting very close,” he said.
“We’ve had a couple of them back with us at the back end of this week.
“Whether it is too much of a risk to get them involved or be involved on Saturday, we will make that call before we leave today.
“I think it is one of them where now we’ve got a good nucleus to the group, they’re all involved in the group and in a good space, we’ve just got to pick the right time because timing is obviously massive.
“Whether it is coming back from injury, whether it is form or actual games and the space in between games.
“I’m mindful of that as well because we are coming into a (busy) period now.
“We’ve been quite fortunate where it has been Saturday-Saturday, we are coming into a period now when it gets really, really busy and we have to balance the players really well.”
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