"An uphill battle" - Charlton Athletic play-off prediction made ahead of 2024-25 season | OneFootball

FLW's Charlton Athletic fan pundit has given his view on what the Addicks can achieve this season.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Charlton Athletic will be hoping for a much-improved campaign in League One this season.

It was another disappointing season for the Addicks last term, and they looked to be in serious relegation danger at one stage, but Nathan Jones guided the club to a 16th-placed finish after taking over in February.

Optimism is high that Charlton will be among the promotion contenders this season under Jones' guidance, and it has been a strong summer transfer window at The Valley, with seven new signings arriving so far.

However, there have also been a number of departures, and the Addicks have lost two key players in captain George Dobson and top scorer Alfie May, who have joined division rivals Wrexham and Birmingham City respectively.

Charlton get their campaign underway when they take on Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium on Saturday, and as they begin their fifth consecutive season in the third tier, supporters will be hoping this is the year they can challenge for a return to the Championship.

Charlton Athletic fan pundit issues 2024-25 season prediction

FLW's Charlton Athletic fan pundit Ben Fleming believes that while the Addicks have an outside chance of the play-offs, it will be tough for them to reach the top six due to the strength of the division.

"It's a really tough one, I always want to be optimistic, but I think if you look at some of the top, top teams in the division like Birmingham and Huddersfield, it's difficult to think that we can challenge for the automatics," Ben said.

"I think if we really perform at our best, we've probably got an outside look at the play-offs, but I think it's an outside look.

"You've got Bolton still in the division, you've got Wrexham and Stockport who have come up with lots of money, Peterborough are always good for the division as well.

"I think it's probably an outside look at the play-offs, over the course of the last season we've lost three of our best players in George Dobson, Alfie May and Corey Blackett-Taylor. "Blackett-Taylor went up with Derby of course, but Dobson and May are still in the division with Wrexham and Birmingham, and those are two massive blows. "We've got Gassan Ahadme and Matty Godden, who are going to have to fill the hole left by May, and Greg Docherty and Luke Berry, who are going to have to fill the leadership and experience void left by Dobson. "I've got some definite concerns at centre-back, I know we've brought in Alex Mitchell, but obviously Terell Thomas and Michael Hector left, so there's going to have to be a step up in terms of our defensive organisation. "In goal, that's always a concern, we still haven't found a consistent number one keeper. "But I think we can take positives from having players fit again, hopefully we can keep Chuks Aneke fit, we've got Miles Leaburn coming back to full fitness, and if he can stay fit and bang in the goals, there's hope there. "I think our biggest positive is obviously the manager. "He came in halfway through last season, so he's had a good time to look at the squad and try to impart a philosophy and a style. "Nathan Jones is probably one of the better managers pound for pound in the division, we've seen with his Luton teams in the past that he's been able to defy expectations and do better than what people would have had them down to do with that siege mentality. "Hopefully he can do that and generate that kind of atmosphere around The Valley, and get a few good early results. "We've started slow the last few seasons, so if we can start positively with a clear attacking intent, and get up and around those play-offs by the end of September, then you can start to have fans being positive. "I do think it's going to be an uphill battle, I think probably more likely we have an outside look at the play-offs. "If I was to predict, I could definitely see us falling just short in that seventh to 10th bracket, but I'm hopeful that under Jones, and maybe with a few more signings before the end of the window, we can push on and maybe try and sneak into those play-offs.

"It's definitely going to be a tough one, it's a far stronger League One than last year."

Charlton Athletic supporters should be optimistic ahead of the new season

Ben is right that it will be tough for Charlton to secure promotion this season in what looks set to be an incredibly competitive League One.

The loss of May, who scored 27 goals in all competitions last season, is a huge blow for the Addicks, particularly as he has joined a potential promotion rival in Birmingham, and it remains to be seen whether the likes of Matty Godden, Gassan Ahadme and Miles Leaburn will be able to replace his goals.

However, Jones has lost just two of his 16 games in charge of Charlton so far, and while 10 of those were draws, there was a clear improvement under the Welshman last season, which should give supporters reason for optimism ahead of the new campaign.

Jones has slimmed down the squad over the summer, as well as bringing in some of his own signings, and although the top two could be out of reach for the Addicks, a play-off push could certainly be on the cards this season.