Charlton Athletic v Birmingham City team and injury news with 5 out and 3 doubts

For the first time in four years, Blues and the Addicks face off in a competitive fixture. The two sides played to a 1-1 draw in the 2019/20 Championship with Lukas Jutkiewicz earning a draw with an effort in the third minute of stoppage time after Macauley Bonne had opened the scoring.

Both teams are now in League One, and had differing results on the opening weekend. Birmingham drew with Reading, and had former Addick Alfie May to thank, as he scored from the spot kick to cancel out Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan's first-half opener. Charlton on the other hand were victorious against Wigan, defeating them 1-0 thanks to a Lloyd Jones effort.

Neither manager had a full complement of players to choose from with some players nursing injuries from the previous season. Here’s the latest injury and team news ahead of kick-off on Tuesday.

Birmingham City team news

Willum Willumsson’s debut was cut short on Saturday, as he was forced off with an injury. He made way around the hour mark and was replaced by Fulham loanee Luke Harris. In the build-up to the match, it was disclosed that Willumsson had been contending with a knee issue, and that affected him on the weekend.

“He’d had a knock on his knee and he’d been struggling with it a little last week,” manager Chris Davies told Birmingham World when asked about Willumsson post-match.

“I think after half time it stiffened up and got a bit worse, he couldn’t carry on. I haven’t heard any update on that, though.”

Alfie Chang and Lee Buchanan are Birmingham's other players who are currently nursing an injury. Chang has been out for a year with a knee injury and will need to be closely monitored, whilst Buchanan has a calf injury picked up during pre-season.

Out: Alfie Chang and Lee Buchanan. Doubt: Willum Willumsson

Charlton Athletic team news

Matty Godden missed their match at the weekend over a tight hamstring. The 33-year-old signed from Coventry City for an undisclosed fee this summer but missed out on making his debut at the DW Stadium, owing to a minor injury.

Sharing an update on Sunday, manager Nathan Jones said to London News Online: “He’s got a tight hamstring. We’re just not risking it. There’s no point travelling up here. Friday afternoon traffic from London to Wigan, you’re looking at six-and-a-half, seven hours.

“It would have just been detrimental. With a game Tuesday, a game Saturday, there’s no point. We’ve got the strength in depth that we need. So we didn’t risk him.”

The Welsh boss has said he wants his side to be 'strong' when he was asked if he would rotate his side. He added: “Birmingham are a real tough side. I’ve got to trust the squad. We’ll see. We’re dust ourselves down. I’ll make sure we’re tactically right for those and then we’ll go from there.”

Scott Fraser was not in their squad at the weekend, and there was talk from the Daily Record three weeks ago that Dundee wanted to sign him. The 29-year-old spent the second half of last season on loan in the Scottish Premiership with Hearts. Neither he or Lucas Ness were given shirt numbers when the West London club confirmed them on Thursday.

Defender Tayo Edun was also left out of their squad against the Latics. The 26-year-old feautred in their final game of pre-season against Portsmouth, but was not in consideration for their curtain raiser up in Greater Manchester.

Forward Miles Leaburn is back in training but is in rehabilitation as he recovers from a serious hamstring injury. He underwent surgery in December 2023, with no return date confirmed yet.

According to Football Insider, both Barnsley and Rotherham United have been eyeing up a loan move for midfielder Terry Taylor. The 23-year-old was limited to just five league games last term after he was forced to undergo surgery on his ankle. He has since recovered, and was involved in pre-season.

Doubt: Matty Godden and Terry Taylor. Out: Lucas Ness, Miles Leaburn and Scott Fraser.