Addicks on a roll?

Alan Pardew believes we have a sequence of winnable games "on paper" following what anyone would acknowledge was a hard start to the season and I agree completely. The average placing of the six sides we have faced is 8th - just where we find ourselves. Our three defeats have come against top and third as well as an unfortunate reverse at 15th place Watford. In all three games we competed and we tood the lead against Preston and Wolves where second goals may well have changed the outcomes. Our wins against Swnasea, eading and Doncaster have all been very professional performances for 90 minutes against sides who had a real go at us. 

We have yet to play a game, in my mind, where the opposition are genuinely disappointing and we are due a few of those. This is probably the most competitive division from top to bottom but you do get those "easy" games every so often and I think we potentially have three of them in-a-row. Forest look like the toughest of the three coming up to me, but they are second-bottom and have shipped 14 goals giving them the worst goal difference in the table. If we play a more attacking game we should be able to get a result.

That would set us up for Sheffield Wednesday who have shipped more goals away from home than Forest. They cracked at Reading last weekend and this should be a real opportunity for Varney and Gray to increase their goal tally as they look increasingly settled as first-choice pairing. We then have the midweek derby at Selhurst and we won't get a better set of circumstances to beat them again; they are not in good form, they lost three of their better players during the Summer and haven't replaced them and, publicly at least, Simon Jordan looks to have lost interest. The sight of Mark Hudson in a commanding red shirt won't be lost on the home fans. After last year's double, our players also know just how much beating Palace means to our fans. 

So, we could go unbeaten and we might just wrack up maximum points. After that we have an awkward trip to Cardiff and then take on Bristol City at the Valley. Both of those games would look easier if we can pick up 6, 7 or 9 points in the meantime. It would also propel us firmly into a play-off place and get some genuinely positive vibes around the club.

I am still of the view that this squad is only capable of an 8th-14th finish, but confidence is a powerful thing - look what it did for Hull and Stoke last year.

Come on you Reds!