Preview | Charlton Athletic v Swansea City

Swansea City travel to The Valley to face Charlton Athletic in their final pre-season friendly match ahead of the 2022-23 Championship season this afternoon (3pm kick-off).

The Swans haven’t faced the Addicks in a competitive match since the London side’s relegation from the second tier at the conclusion of the 2019-20 campaign. That season, Swansea won both contests by a single goal.

Russell Martin will be hoping for a strong showing as the Swans play out their final match minutes before the league curtain raiser away at Rotherham United on July 30.

Team News

While Ben Cabango and Joe Allen are back on the grass with their team-mates, this weekend’s friendly will come too soon for the pair of Welsh internationals.

Liam Walsh is out for an extended time after the injury he picked up in pre-season, but head coach Martin has no further injury concerns.

Pre-match views

Matt Gill: "Everyone’s excited already. Pre-season is about building towards that first game and the lads will be in the best shape they can be.

"They’ve worked immensely hard so far. We’ll that down a little bit in that final week because they’ve given everything they’ve got.

"They’ve been brilliant and I’m sure they’ll be ready for that first game of the season."

Ben Garner: “We’re looking forward to playing at The Valley. Everyone will get the minutes they need on Saturday.

“It’s a fantastic stadium and we’ve got great support. I have spoken to a lot of people who have said, if we can get the crowd onside at The Valley, that makes a big difference and we need to focus on that and understand what a great weapon that is.

“The players are working really hard at the moment, between games, so they’re not at their sharpest in matches but I think that will hold us in good stead once we get into the season."

Remember the last time?

Swansea City’s last trip to The Valley was a league visit at the end of 2019. Swans came from behind to claim three points after a disastrous start in south-east London. It was a result which saw them leapfrog Leeds United and retake the Championship's top spot. 

The Swans had trailed after just 66 seconds when Jonathan Leko took advantage of a poor clearance to find the net via a deflection.

But the Swans hit back on 17 minutes as Yan Dhanda found the bottom corner via a Charlton defender.

And Andre Ayew then turned in a corner on 65 minutes to give Swansea a first win at The Valley since 1980.

Prime Numbers

0 – The Swans first faced Charlton Athletic in a competitive fixture more than 100 years ago, but the two sides have never met each other in a cup competition.

5 – Joel Piroe has had a clinical pre-season campaign bagging five goals so far with a first-half hat-trick against Haverfordwest County and strikes against Bristol Rovers and Plymouth Argyle.

7  – In recent history, the two sides have been infrequent foes. The teams have met just seven times since 1979.