Charlton v Chelsea

NEWCOMERS Madjid Bougherra and Alex Song have been ruled out from making their Charlton debuts at home to Barclays Premier League champions Chelsea this Saturday through injury and illness.

Defender Bougherra, who cost £2.5 million from Sheffield Wednesday last weekend, is troubled by a calf problem while midfielder Song, who joined the Addicks on loan from Arsenal in midweek, is out of the reckoning through illness.

Long-term casualties Darren Bent, skipper Luke Young and midfielder Andy Reid remain out of contention leaving manager Alan Pardew to rely on the same squad that battled so manfully to take a point from Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at Bolton.

Pardew, who declared after the Bolton game that Charlton would attack the next two games against Chelsea and leaders Manchester United with more freedom, denied that his side were about to play a more expansive game against Jose Mourinho’s side.

“We’ll attack the game because The Valley atmosphere will be very positive after four points from our last two away games and we need to capitalise on that,” said Pardew.

“But we cannot afford to stand off Chelsea and let them dictate because it won’t be much of a game for our supporters.

“So we’ll be looking to get as much possession and create as many scoring opportunities as we can without opening up the game.”

England skipper John Terry returns from a long-term back injury to skipper Chelsea.