Powell happy to see his own record equalled at Tranmere (From News Shopper)

Powell happy to see his own record equalled at Tranmere

5:09pm Thursday 16th February 2012 in Football By Paul Green

CHRIS Powell wants his table-topping side to equala club record he was part of when Charlton visit Tranmere on Saturday.

If the Addicks pick up three points on Merseyside it will match the 12-game record of away wins achieved by Charlton during their Championship winning campaign at the turn of this century.

And with eight more away fixtures to come this year, it looks to be only a matter of when it is broken, with the chance to equal it coming up at Prenton Park.

Powell, who was a member of that initial record breaking side, said: “It shows the measure of the team what they’ve done this year, especially on the road, and it would be terrific to equal that.

“I was fortunate enough to be in that run under Curbs in our Championship season 1999/2000, so it would be great for us to emulate that and even go beyond that.

“But we are just thinking of going up to Tranmere a difficult place and trying to get three points again.”

Tranmere snatched a 1-1 draw at The Valley in October and caught the eye with some impressive passing football.

However, they have since slipped down the table to 17th and Powell feels this backs up his theory of teams raising their game whenever they take on the top sides.

He explained: “I think that shows what League One is about.

“Even when teams are in the lower reaches they can on any given day, and playing against us at The Valley, teams raise their games going to the bigger clubs – the Sheffields and the Huddersfields.

“A lot of the clubs that are lower down, so called smaller clubs, will look at that and raise their game and Tranmere are a classic example of that.

“We needed Johnnie Jackson to score a penalty quite late on in the (1-1) game but I feel they are a decent team.

“They’ve always had one or two good players who have either come through their system or they’ve picked up elsewhere.

“I’m led to believe they played quite well the other night against Carlisle so I’m sure they’ll be quite confident with the league leaders coming to town, but I need us to perform the way we have done away from home.

“We’ve been very, very good, very solid and always capable of scoring. It is a tough game but no different to the other 45 we’ve got to play this season.”

With teams coming to SE7 to frustrate, does this then go some way to explaining why Charlton have been so successful on the road this season?

“Without a doubt because the onus is always on the home team,” answered Powell.

“Whether you are at the top or the bottom the onus is always on the home team to come out and attack and to perform.

“That has been the case where a lot of teams will look to nick something where they can and then have something to hang on to for the rest of the game.

“It is always crucial at any level the first goal.

“We’ve seen recently against Bury they got the first goal and then they were quite happy to sit on that and it took a superb equaliser by Dale Stephens to break them down.

“But away from home we’ve been able to counter attack and able to use our qualities once they’ve realised they can’t really get through us or around us.

“We need to keep that right because then teams open up even more when they are chasing the equaliser and I feel we have enough within our team and squad to break teams down away from home for sure.”

Saturday’s trip to Tranmere comes in the early stages of a mega-run of games awaiting the Addicks in the coming weeks but Powell says it is too early to say if he will utilise his squad on the Wirral by making changes to cope with the fixture headache.

“I don’t know yet,” he said. “I’ve got to make sure everyone has recovered right.

“Do I change it for changing sake?

“I do like to have a settled team, as we’ve had the majority of the season, but of course if a rest is needed for one or two or they’re carrying knocks, it is better to leave them out for a game so they are ready for the next four or five then we will do that.

“But we are going to have to just play a bit clever with the team and the players because it is quite easy to say you are ready and after 20 minutes you realise that player needed the rest.

“It is just a case of making sure we are all right and ready and if I have to make a change I will.”

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