Swindon v Charlton

CHARLTON visit newly-promoted League 1 club Swindon in the first round of the Carling Cup tonight with manager Alan Pardew admitting that the competition does not figure high among his priorities.

He said: "In all honesty, the competition does not figure high on my agenda. We'll try and win tonight _ that goes without saying. But I'll make no bones about it to Charlton fans, my priority is the league."

The Addicks boss is likely to name the same side that opened the season with Saturday's 1-1 draw with Scunthorpe. "My first inclination is to go with an unchanged side because I want to bed them in as quickly as possible."

With a difficult match at Stoke on Saturday, Pardew is unlikely to risk midfielder Jerome Thomas, who missed the start of the season with a hamstring strain. Striker Luke Varney is still two weeks away from being available after sustaining an ankle injury in last month's friendly against Chelsea.