Rob Elliott faces stiff competition from Darren Randolph for a starting place on Saturday
ALAN Pardew says he has yet to make up his mind which of his two available goalkeepers will be chosen to face Southampton on Saturday.
Regular shot stopper Nicky Weaver misses the visit of the Saints to SE7 through suspension after his dismissal in last week's 2-1 win at Plymouth.
Rob Elliott came off the bench to fill the void left by Weaver's unwanted departure at Home Park, but Pardew recalled Darren Randolph from his loan at Bury earlier in the week ahead of the Southampton clash.
Both are now vying to be given the chance to impress on Saturday and the Addicks boss revealed there has been no decision on which one will get the nod.
"Not yet," he said.
"Rob did very well on Saturday and Darren has done very well at Bury.
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"I brought Darren back because obviously we need two goalkeepers for this game, but I haven't made a decision.
"Rob did great in terms on coming off cold off the bench and has worked really hard with our goalkeeping coach.
"He has really knuckled down this year, lost a bit of weight and come out of himself in terms of his personality.
"We've offered him a new contract so he has had a decent season without actually playing in the first team.
"I still see some work to be done and I think he is aware of that, but certainly next year he needs to really force his way to number two or number one."
On-loan striker Leroy Lita was last weekend's hero with both goals and Pardew feels his arrival at the club is finally beginning to pay off after a tricky start to life in SE7.
He explained: "I think Charlton fans who would have seen Leroy in his first couple of games would suggest we have waited patiently for him to come alive knowing if he did, we would be better for it and he has.
"Whether it is in time or too late, only time will tell.
"Certainly he is in form right now and that was always what we wanted and he is really looking sharp at the minute."
Charlton are two points off the final play-off place with 60 points and the manager accepts his side will need to win their four remaining fixtures if they are to have any chance of making it.
He said: "In all honesty I've looked at it and said it needs to be a minimum of 72 points for us and that is probably going to be the mark.
"I don't think it will be less than that. I haven't really looked at the others.
"Obviously we played Wolves recently and with a couple of games in hand, you would have to say they have the box seat but they have some real tough games and the pressure will be on them at home, a bit like for ourselves.
"The important thing for us is to win on Saturday and see what it looks like on Saturday night."
Southampton are fighting for their lives at the wrong end of the table to maintain their Championship status and gave their survival hopes a major boost last weekend with victory against Bristol City.
Pardew was impressed by what the Saints achieved on the day and is aware of the danger posed by Saturday's opponents.
He said: "I watched it on tape and I saw Gary Johnson in the week and Bristol City were well beaten by them.
"It was 2-0 but it could have been four. They were terrific and it seems to be the case a lot of times this year where we seem to meet a team as they hit a bit of form and we know it is going to be a tough game.
"They are bringing 3,000 fans so they are going to get great backing.
"Our fans need to help us as much as they can because if we win this one, we've got three games where we could win."
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