‘Phlegmatic’ Marcus Maddison poses Hull City a threat, if he’s on his game admits Grant McCann

Grant McCann is acutely aware of the threat that former Hull City attacker Marcus Maddison poses when he returns to the KCOM Stadium on Saturday.

Maddison spent the second half of last year’s ill-fated campaign on loan with City from Peterborough, scoring once in seven outings before returning to London Road.

After leaving Posh on a free transfer in the summer and spending a spell without a club, Maddison was handed a lifeline by Lee Bowyer earlier this season and has been working his way back to full fitness at the Valley in recent weeks.

Maddison came off the bench to earn the Addicks a point last time out against Plymouth on Boxing Day and he’s likely to be handed another chance to impress this weekend, with McCann coming up against a player he describes as phlegmatic, but a threat if he brings his ‘A’ game.

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“Yes he is (enigmatic and phlegmatic),” said McCann.

“He’s in and out of the team down there, I know he came on in the last game for them and scored the equaliser.

“He’s a good player, Marcus, when he’s on his game and he’s a threat, of course.

“Not only Marcus, they’ve got some very good players that we need to be aware of.

“We’ll focus on how we can hurt them as we always do.”

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The visit of Charlton will be the Tigers’ first outing since losing 2-0 at home to Portsmouth before Christmas, with games against Sunderland and Lincoln postponed over the festive break.

While City have lost their last three, winning just once in five, Charlton’s form is scarcely much better with just a 5-2 win over AFC Wimbledon to celebrate in their last five as third hosts sixth.

“Over the years I’ve had some good games with Lee Bowyer, going back to my time with Doncaster and Peterborough, games with his Charlton team have always been fierce encounters,” McCann said.

Marcus Maddison in action for Hull City against Barnsley at KCOM Stadium (Image: (Ashley Allen/Getty Images))

“It’s always been nip and tuck, they’re a good team and they’ve recruited well.

“They’ve obviously lost one or two but they’ve recruited well in terms of the players and there’s some experienced players that they’ve brought in.

“Like I’ve said before, I think we’ve recruited well and we’ve been good, its two different teams that you’ve seen from last season so I think it’ll be a good game, two teams that want to play football, two teams that want to keep the ball on the floor.

“We want to try and respond from the three disappointing results that we’ve had in our last three games.”

Like City, Charlton were relegated from the Championship last season but in Bowyer, have a manager that knows what it takes to get out of League One, and McCann expects the south London side to be knocking on the door come season’s end.

“I think they’ll be in and around the mix, there’s no question about that,” admitted the Tigers head coach.

“Lee knows the division, he’s done it before and I think they’ve got a good team and a good squad in terms of their depth to compete towards the top end of the league and I’ve got no doubt they’ll be in and around it.”