Jason Pearce will return to his former club on Saturday when Charlton travel to Fratton Park to face fellow promotion hopefuls Portsmouth (3pm).
The Addicks, who sit fifth in the Sky Bet League One table, will be looking to enact some revenge on Pompey, having been narrowly beaten 1-0 by them at The Valley in December.
It will be a first Fratton Park return for Pearce, who played for Portsmouth during two separate spells, firstly in 2006/07 and more recently in 2011/12.
Despite only remaining on the south coast for a solitary season during his second spell, Pearce made quite the impact as he captained the side in the final few months of the season on the way to winning Portsmouth’s Player of the Year award.
However, Pearce admitted that Charlton’s performance on Saturday is more important than any sentimental feelings.
“It’s a massive game anyway, regardless of me going back to my old club,” said Pearce.
“I haven’t been back to Fratton Park to play since I left so it will be a good occasion for me. It’s not about me, though, it’s about Charlton and we want to get the three points.”
With three games of the season left to play, the Addicks will be looking to build on an impressive 2-0 away victory at Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday night.
“When you win a game, you can’t get too carried away,” continued Pearce. “We have got to keep our feet on the floor, do things right in training, do things right off the pitch and then we go again.
“We have done OK against the teams that are above us and in the play-off places, so we have got them to play and obviously Rochdale are fighting for their lives. We have got three cup finals to try and get into the play-offs.”
Article by Andy Preston