'Real threats': Portsmouth’s challenge to halt Charlton Athletic’s array of firepower touted for Chelsea, Aston Villa, Millwall & Co

John Mousinho acknowledged Pompey have to rise to the challenge of halting a powerful array of attacking talent to end their Charlton hoodoo.

The Blues face Michael Appleton’s side today aiming to end their run of seven successive wins at Fratton Park spanning 18 years.

The Addicks have also won 10 of their last 11 trips to PO4 across a whopping 27 years, with an extensive streak developing against the League One leaders.

Appleton’s men can call on one of the division’s top marksmen in Alfie May, who already has 11 goals to his name this term.

May was linked with the likes of Millwall, Derby and Wrexham this summer before moving to The Valley.

Meanwhile, Miles Leaburn is emerging as one of the game’s brightest attacking talents - attracting interest from big guns like Chelsea and Aston Villa and hitting six goals this season.

With an attacking support cast including the likes of Corey Blackett-Taylor, Scott Fraser and Tyreece Campbell, Mousinho knows the size of the challenge his side face.

He said: ‘Charlton have a huge amount of attacking talent - and they’re no slouches at the back, either.

‘Alfie May over the past couple of seasons has done terrifically well.

‘Then at the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of profile of centre-forward, age and time of their careers is Miles Leaburn. They both pose real threats, different kind of threats.

‘Leaburn is definitely one of the up-and-coming centre-forwards in the league and in May, I think we’ve probably seen over the past three years now he scores a huge amount of goals and is a real threat, even in a side who has struggled at the bottom of the league.

‘So it’s a really interesting match-up and whoever we play on Saturday has to be up for the challenge.’

After early-season struggles Charlton’s fortunes appear to be broadly improving under Michael Appleton, with Mousinho anticipating a meeting which could prove easy on the eye.

He added: ‘Certainly the front four and the changes they can make to the front four and two in the middle of the park, shows they have a lot of potential in the side.

‘Actually, that’s a lot of potential which is now starting to translate into results and goals at the top end of the pitch. So we have to be wary of that.

‘They play good football and have picked up since Michael Appleton has gone in. So it’s going to be a good game, I think it’s going to be a really good game of football.

‘They have got plenty of threats to be wary of, so we have to make sure we don’t just nullify them but take advantage of what we see as their weaknesses as well.’

READ MORE: Some big injury and selection call to make as the leaders bid to bury their Charlton hoodoo. Here’s how we think Pompey will line up at Fratton.