When the draw for the third round of the Capital One Cup was made, Charlton were flying high.

Unbeaten, having defeated QPR and Hull at home, taking solid points away from home at Derby and Forest, and beating Peterborough comfortably with the most youthful Addicks side in history, things were looking rosy.

Fast forward nearly a month, and the sudden downfall in form in SE7 means that the anticipation for this cup fixture has waned a bit amongst Charlton support, replaced with a bout of wariness.

As a squad, Palace are impressive.

If Charlton perform how they have in the last few games then it could be embarrassing – not as embarrassing as pretending to be a European Ultra, but embarrassing nonetheless.

As well as being a local derby, there’s the added spice of Palace being managed by ex-Charlton player and manager Alan Pardew.

Addicks fans have not forgiven him for being at the helm as the club’s spiral into League One began and he’s sure to be in for a harder time than a Holmesdale Fanatic whose favourite felt tips have run out.

Goalkeeper Nick Pope has promised that the Charlton players will be fired up for this clash, but it’s going to take more than that from the south-east Londoners to get something in Surrey.

It’s hard to pinpoint what has gone wrong over the last couple of weeks – chances being missed and a normally comfortable defence letting in five goals in two games.

The enigmatic Tony Watt, who started this campaign in sparkling form, has had a torrid last two or three games, summed up with two shots skewed so horribly in the second half at Ewood Park, they had more chance of troubling the corner flag than the scoreboard.

The goals conceded at Blackburn were pretty poor, too.

The Addicks defence, which feels reasonably sturdy but has in fact only kept two clean sheets so far this season, has to be on their mettle to deal with whatever the Eagles throw at them.

Palace have suffered two straight Premier League defeats, and despite an emphatic 4-1 score-line after extra-time, huffed and puffed to get past League Two Shrewsbury in the previous round.

With the way Charlton have played over the last fortnight, it may be their only hope that Palace have another off day so Charlton can have a chance of getting a result in this game.

But whatever happens, there isn’t really much for Charlton to lose here.

Palace, dare we say it, are an established Premier League team at the moment, and any win for them really would be seen as par for the course.

Ten years ago, the tables would have been turned and Charlton would have been expected to win comfortably.

With the cyclical nature of football, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the roles reversed again in ten years time.

However, if Charlton win, Palace fans will find they don’t live that one down for a very long time.

Come on you reds!

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