Posh Spice

"The only sure thing about luck is that it will change." (Bret Harte)

Three average performances under Chris Powell have remarkably produced nine points and three clean sheets.

Fans thus find themselves delighted at the progress on the pitch, but aren't quite sure what if anything has actually changed yet.

The short answer is 'probably not very much', with the exception of the acquisition of a striker who would be good enough for the Championship if his knees weren't iffy.

Without those two winning BWP goals, we'd be sat in 10th place instead of a much prouder 5th. No wonder strikers command the loftiest transfer fees.

No-one is getting carried away though. After all it wasn't so long ago that Phil Parkinson's leadership brought us fully five consecutive wins, including a stunning 5-1 win over Saturday's opponents. He was gone within a few weeks.

The real test of Powell's managerial abilities will be whether he can use some of the confidence engendered by lucky wins, to begin to build a real foundation for deserved ones too. Parky never managed this and it cost him his job.

With the resources at both managers' disposal, the very least we should expect by default is play-offs so we should hardly rejoice that we are now firmly back in those places.

There is however some more positivity around the place, and the limited evidence of some dynamism at the club (both on and off the pitch) can be cautiously welcomed.

According to Football365, Charlton have the best League record against sides in the top half, securing an average of 1.8 points per game.

However somewhat ominously we have only played 10 of our 26 games against teams currently in the top half, a reminder that the real battle for promotion is still to come with the likes of Southampton and Rochdale still to be played.

Speaking of statistics, Peterborough are not surprisingly way out ahead in terms of goals scored, a phenomenal 60 goals already this season from just 27 games.

Indeed those Posh fans who have seen every game will have been treated to a total of 115 goals at a ridiculous rate of 4.26 per game.

Given that the spread betting companies typically expect about 2.7 goals per game over the course of the season, this really is an extraordinary outlier.

Aaron McLean scored ten of their goals, but was prised away by Hull in the transfer window putting extra pressure on Craig Mackail-Smith to build on his own 15 League goals (the same total as our own double-barrelled striker).

The strange saga of Darren Ferguson's return to London Road remains somewhat confusing, but if he was intending to lower the heartrate of the Posh fans with some better defending, it hasn't worked so far.

It's thus a game to look forward to, and I'll be attending in person for the first time since Spurs to witness Powell's side with my own eyes.

With Matt Fry's loan having been extended, he will likely be able to name an unchanged side which seems to be his stated preference whilst we rack up the wins.

There is little to suggest that Fry is more than a Championship-quality player in the making at best, some early promise giving way to question marks over his defending.

He was torn apart at Spurs for example by Andros Townsend, a fellow Premiership youngster doing the loan rounds.

Unlike some loanees however, you can't question the West Ham man's attitude though. His reward might be Championship football at the Olympic Stadium.