Charlton’s special delivery

Charlton never stand in the way of a player and the birth of his child. And so on Friday, as the squad were travelling west for the League One clash at Plymouth, right-back Simon Francis received the call he'd been waiting for —his girlfriend was close to giving birth.

So the team bus diverted to Andover station to allow the former Southend player to jump on the train home and see daughter Halle arrive. Manager Phil Parkinson said: "Fortunately he made it in time. Nothing is more important than your family, especially the birth of your first child.

"It was really close but he got back so it was a good ending."

Experienced defender Christian Dailly filled in at right-back and helped Charlton pick up a valuable point with a 2-2 draw in Francis's absence.