Charlton Athletic searching for fourth consecutive win against visiting Lincoln City

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Charlton Athletic will return to The Valley on Saturday afternoon to host Lincoln City in Sky Bet League One.

The Addicks head into the fixture off the back of three consecutive wins in the league, with their 1-0 win over Doncaster Rovers last weekend also ensuring they haven’t conceded in 270 minutes of football.

Saturday’s visitors haven’t won in their past three fixtures, losing late on away at Shrewsbury Town courtesy of Daniel Udoh’s low strike from outside the box.

Both sides struggled for form earlier in the campaign but are now set to remain in the third division after pulling away from the relegation battlers down the bottom end of the table.

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Recent Charlton form saves blushes

Charlton’s three victories in their past three fixtures in League One is their best winning run for the season so far, having previously gone seven games without a win prior to their recent form.

A 1-0 win away at Gillingham halfway through March would spell the end of a streak that saw them take just one point from a possible 21. Since then the Addicks have been able to build on their upturn in form and work their way higher up the standings.

Johnnie Jackson’s side are now set for a comfortable mid-table finish, a stark improvement from where they were earlier in the season; they were 22nd when former boss Nigel Adkins was sacked and they now find themselves up in 14th.

They put in a solid performance in their last outing at The Valley against Burton Albion, winning 2-0 thanks to two first half goals, and their victory on the road against Doncaster has set them up for a potentially solid end to the campaign.

Despite Jayden Stockley scoring the winner last weekend, manager Jackson believes his side could have been more clinical in front of goal.

“I was pleased with the performance, certainly from box to box we moved the ball well and created a lot. We looked dangerous, but obviously that final touch was lacking.

“The hardest part about football is putting it in the back of that net and we didn’t do that enough. I was pleased with the performance and the clean sheet on the road which we haven’t had loads of.

“My natural instinct after the game was that we should have won by more but when we look back on it there were some really pleasing elements from the whole performance.”

While relegation for Charlton is now a near impossible scenario, there is little to no chance that they will be able to sneak a push for the play-offs, something that they were so close to achieving on the final day last campaign.

After their early season struggles it is now a case of the Addicks ending the year in the strongest way possible and their recent form could give them the platform to do just that, especially if they claim victory over the Imps.

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Survival for Lincoln an emerging prospect

Last season Lincoln were able to secure a fifth placed finish in the league and therefore compete in the play-offs for a potential promotion to the Championship. However, despite beating Sunderland in the semi-finals, they lost 2-1 to Blackpool in the final at Wembley Stadium.

Despite making some big signings in the summer, including Chris Maguire from Sunderland and Teddy Bishop from Ipswich Town, Lincoln have been unable to replicate their impressive form from the previous campaign.

Their fortunes this season have been the complete opposite, with the Imps looking closer to relegation back to League Two rather than making the step up to the second division of English football. Generating a run of form has been a difficult task for the Imps this season, with Michael Appleton’s side failing to win more than two games in a row.

They are currently 18th in the league table, but nine points above the drop zone. Just over a month ago they were only four points above the bottom four, so they are now in a less precarious position than they were after their 2-0 loss to Gillingham.

Just one win has been gained from their past five matches, and they will head to south-east London off the back of their 1-0 loss to the Shrews.

Top of their goalscoring charts is Anthony Scully, who has amassed eight goals in League One for the season so far. John Marquis is second with five, an impressive number considering he joined the side from Portsmouth in the January transfer window.

While they may appear to be safe from the drop for now, the job isn’t done for Appleton and his Imps. They are lucky in the knowledge that those below them are also struggling for form, with all the teams in the bottom four failing to have won in their last five games, and a victory on Saturday would almost all but confirm their spot in League One next season.

Lincoln were victorious in the reverse fixture earlier in the season, with Regan Poole’s 91st minute goal sealing a late win over Charlton back in October.

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