Lee Peltier can provide the solidity needed in midfield
The sole change to the Huddersfield Town side from the midweek win at Reading saw captain Lee Peltier restored and he vindicated his manager Mark Lillis' decision with a gutsy showing in midfield.
The '2' in the 4-2-3-1 was a role initially earmarked as one of potential interest for the utility man when he returned to the club from Leeds United this summer and there have been calls for him to be moved away from the centre of defence, where his qualities may perhaps not be best served.
But the expectation would have been that Peltier would have slotted in at right-back so as to not sacrifice on the burgeoning partnership of Murray Wallace and Joel Lynch in the middle of the backline.
Instead, Lillis provided a tactical nous his managerial counterpart may not have foreseen in deploying his skipper in a deep-lying midfield role which gave Town much-needed athleticism in Jonathan Hogg's absence.
He would return to central defence following Wallace's dismissal before half-time, only for a recurrence of a troubling groin injury to take its toll and end his game prematurely, but only after staking a real claim for more regular midfield duties.
Smith and Scannell is a blossoming right-sided partnership
Aside from Hogg's absence, one reason Peltier was fielded as the heartbeat of the Town midfield came down to the ever-improving relationship between Tommy Smith, a direct competitor for the right-back slot, and Sean Scannell.
Amongst Mark Lillis' post-match remarks it was clear that stringent work has been done with Scannell in fine-tuning the defensive side of his game which, until his Madejski masterclass during the week, had justifiably been questioned on various occasions.
He simply didn't fit the wing-back position as part of a 3-5-2 and looks a much freer individual with that added defensive quality and confidence behind him in Smith.
But equally, there is an understanding developing between the two which was evident for most to see when the winger teed up his overlapping full-back with an audacious back-heel which ultimately led to Nahki Wells' opener.
The vibrancy of the general performance was taken out of Town once he left the field and the Addicks rightly sensed their opportunity to pounce as a result.
Vaughan looks ready to get back amongst the goals
He was treated to a hero's welcome, and rightly so, as James Vaughan's first 2014/2015 Huddersfield Town appearance featured enough evidence to suggest he can hit the ground running once more.
With Wallace off, Peltier struggling with injury and the midfield starting to retreat as the numerical disadvantage eventually began to pay off from a Charlton perspective, Vaughan's contribution up top was vital.
Lillis refused the chance to go for a two-man strikeforce and line Vaughan up alongside Wells and understandably so from a tactical view, but it hardly restricted the substitute in his cameo.
Emerging from the bench for Wells, it looked as if seeing his strike partner open his league account acted as the perfect incentive for him to prove is own value and he so nearly did with a venomous strike which Nick Pope in the Charlton goal had to tip away.
He also had the right to feel aggrieved by the decision from referee Tim Richardson not to award a penalty to him after a shove from Addicks stopper Tal Ben Haim in what proved a lively, if fruitless, bit-part role.
Tim Richardson won't be invited back to Huddersfield anytime soon
That decision from Richardson was met by suitable outrage from Town fans, whose anger was increased tenfold when Igor Vetokele cashed in with the leveller just moments later.
It felt like the ultimate rubbing of salt into a gaping wound after West Sussex-based Richardson had made a series of questionable calls, not least the decision to send off Wallace with an ostensible lack of consultation from any of his officials.
His inability to play the advantage to the visitors in the second half was Addicks chief Bob Peeters' main gripe as Yoni Buyens looked to release Johann Berg Gudmundsson on the far side, but the penalty call on Vaughan was perhaps the most contentious.
But what was most alarming about a performance which ranged from dismal to uncertain, was the man in the middle's obviously insufficient fitness levels, contributing to several occasions where he got in the way of both sets of players.
It disrupted the flow of the game and both managers were furious on the touchline at a man who came under serious fire from all sections of the John Smith's Stadium on Saturday.
One suspects a return to this part of the land may not be high on his, or indeed Town fans' agendas.
Vetokele's class eventually tells but should not overshadow battling Town display
Charlton came into this game unbeaten and riding high after a laudable 3-2 midweek success over Derby County, which gave this fixture a slightly different outlook to the one it might have had at the start of the campaign.
But it was Town who made most of the early running and Wells was a constant menace to the uncertain Ben Haim and Andre Bikey in the opening stages, only for Vetokele to take centre stage.
The support on the flanks to the Belgian-Angolan striker was non-existent from Jordan Cousins and Gudmundsson and George Tucudean's impact on proceedings was minimal at best.
It meant Vetokele was left to lead the line as his side's sole potent threat and he did so with the kind of pace and power which has helped him surge his side into embryonic play-off reckoning.
His quick charges past Wallace and Lynch led to the former's sending-off just before the break and in truth, his goal was a deserved one for such relentless endeavour, albeit one his side's overall efforts failed to merit.
