Charlton Athletic v Wigan

ALEX SONG is the only injury doubt as Charlton resume their fight for Premier League survival against Wigan at The Valley on Saturday.

The midfielder’s recovery from the hamstring strain, which forced him off after 40 minutes of the 2-0 win against Newcastle two weeks ago, has not healed as quickly as expected.

“I’m waiting to see how he responds in training,” said manager Alan Pardew. “I’ll leave it late before deciding.”

Leading-scorer Darren Bent, who was withdrawn from the England squad for the internationals against Israel and Andorra owing to knee ligament trouble, is also fit.

Ben Thatcher and Marcus Bent are also available.

Pardew, who has prescribed a further four wins to assure Premier League survival, heaped rich praise on Darren Bent whose form is crucial to the Addicks beating the drop.

“Since I’ve been here I’ve been really impressed with Darren’s all-round ability,” said Pardew. “I knew he was quick and could disrupt defences but his finishing is better than I thought and he has a lot of tools in his armoury.

“I’m convinced he would have made a difference had he been available for England this week.”

Of the club’s immediate future prospects in the relegation scrap, he added: “When you’re near the bottom of the table you have to push your teams to win games.

“When I looked at the successive home games against Newcastle and Wigan, I thought four points would be great - prior to the Newcastle game.

“Now we’re in a position to take six, so that’s what the focus is now. We have to try and get another three points. But I would not be disappointed with a point against Wigan. Having said that, our survival prospects hinge on our home form.”

Pardew confirmed that Republic of Ireland international midfielder Andy Reid will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery for persistent hamstring problems.