Two top-10 Championship sides meet in matchday 19's Saturday lunchtime encounter at The Valley as Charlton Athletic welcome Ipswich Town.
Hosts Charlton lie ninth in the table and enter the match unbeaten in four games. Three of those have been draws, though, and a stalemate against South London rivals Millwall last time would have been disappointing for a side that has surprising playoff ambitions.
Still, it preserved their unbeaten home record in 2014-15 and over the whole campaign Bob Peeters's side have lost just two games, which is fewer than anyone else in the league.
However, Peeters will feel that too many games have been draws - only Sheffield Wednesday have drawn as many games as the Addicks (10).
One positive from the draw against Millwall was the performance of young goalkeeper Nick Pope between the sticks. Peeters reserved special praise for the 22-year-old, who is standing in for the injured Stephen Henderson and will again start this weekend.
Yoni Buyens is also likely to miss out after coming off in the first half against Millwall with a hamstring problem. If he is forced out, Callum Harriott could start.
Victory in a couple of days will take Charlton level on points with opponents Ipswich, who are fourth in the table, just a point behind second place and four adrift of league leaders Derby County.
The Tractor Boys have lost just one of their last 14 games and earned a decent point at second-placed Bournemouth a week ago. They were outplayed for large parts of the game but managed to hold the Cherries to a 2-2 draw thanks to another goal from Daryl Murphy.
The Irishman is joint-top scorer in the division with Nottingham Forest's Britt Assombalonga (11), and his 76th-minute header at the Goldsands Stadium was the fifth goal of Ipswich's last seven on the road that he has scored.
Christophe Berra picked up his fifth booking of the season on the South Coast so he will be absent at The Valley, meaning that Luke Chambers will move from right-back to centre-back and be replaced by Jonathan Parr out wide.
Left-back Tyrone Mings hasn't trained all week, but McCarthy is confident that he will be fit in time to feature. If he isn't, then Matt Clarke will make his first league appearance for the Blues.
Their defensive worries have seen McCarthy sign free agent Sean St Ledger on a short-term deal, while Noel Hunt has also joined on loan from Leeds United to provide cover further forward. He links up with brother Stephen in Suffolk.
Ipswich are unbeaten in their last three matches against Charlton, drawing 1-1 in their last meeting at Portman Road on New Year's Day earlier this year.
Charlton:
Recent form: WLDDWD
Possible starting lineup: Pope; Solly, Bikey, Ben Haim, Fox; Gudmundsson, Coquelin; Harriott, Jackson, Cousins; Vetokele
Ipswich:
Recent form: LDWWWD
Possible starting lineup: Bialkowski; Parr, Chambers, Smith, Mings; Skuse, Hyam, Hunt; Murphy, McGoldrick, Anderson
Sports Mole says: 1-1
Pascal Lemesre
