Albion visit Charlton looking for more capital gains

Three thousand Seagulls fans will pack into the away end at Charlton Athletic as the Albion away army mobilises for another incursion into the capital hoping their Brighton heroes can plunder a third London win on the bounce.

Brighton head to Charlton on the back of a pair of morale-boosting away wins '“ both in London and both by two goals to nil.

Around 3,500 fans '“ some in Craven Cottage's neutral section after the away end sold out '“ roared Brighton onto victory against Fulham under Nathan Jones' temporary management, and another away-end sell-out crowd, this time of 1,600, saw Chris Hughton mastermind a 2-0 FA Cup win at high-flying Brentford.

A combined away following of more than 8,000 fans for a team slumming it at the wrong end of the Championship table is certainly impressive.

Hughton then, certainly has the enthusiastic backing of supporters as he begins his mission to address the Seagulls poor league position and stabilise the club going forward.

Charlton looked a solid outfit when they visited the Amex earlier in the season but have now gone eight league and cup games without registering a win. They haven't won at home since beating Bolton back on October 21 but, overall, have a fairly decent record on their own patch. A 1-0 defeat by Ipswich Town is their only home loss in the league at the Valley but, like Brighton, drawing has been an issue. The Addicks have drawn seven of their 12 home league games this campaign.

Their chief threat will come from Igor Vetokele, their eight-goal top scorer. The Angolan international is available for Charlton after his country missed out on qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations and he certainly posed Brighton numerous problems the last time the teams met.

Lewis Dunk and Gordon Greer, who returned from his spell on the sidelines against Brentford, will likely be tasked with keeping the forward quiet.

Charlton have boosted their squad this week with the signings of former Celtic striker Tony Watt from Standard Liege and Serbia Under-21 international goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic from Ujpest FC.

Brighton's January recruitment remains just the loan signing of Greg Halford although Hughton and the club's chief executive Paul Barber have spoken this week of their determination to make quality additions to the Seagulls squad. The club has also confirmed Kazenga Lua Lua has agreed a new long-term deal at the Amex.

Bruno, having completed his three-match ban, is back in contention while Jake Forster-Caskey, Joe Bennett and Adrian Colunga could return to the match day squad.

Chris O'Grady, who has been in impressive form from the Brighton bench in the team's last two games, continues to be linked with a move to Sheffield United but Albion fans will be hoping he is given a few more opportunities to prove his worth.

Craig Mackail-Smith should continue as centre forward.

LIKELY LINE-UP: Stockdale, Calderon, Dunk, Greer, J. Bennett, Holla, Ince, Teixeira, Colunga, March, Mackail-Smith.

LIKELY SUBS: Walton, Hughes, Bruno, Halford, Forster-Caskey, Baldock, O'Grady.