Curbishley plots to break jinx

Alan Curbishley believes his team have a good chance of winning the Carling Cup this season.

Charlton begin their campaign against Luton tonight and their manager is confident it could be the start of a long run.

Curbishley will name his strongest side for the second-round tie at The Valley and expects them to record their first home win this season.

He said: "I'm sure that a Premiership side will win the Carling Cup and there's no reason why it can't be us. But we've got to go and do it - I'm not taking Luton lightly. I won't rotate and give players a game. I want to beat Luton. I watched them last week and we'll have a game on. They'll bring a lot of fans here and will enjoy it."

Curbishley is desperate for a League Cup run after embarrassing early exits to Oxford, Stoke, Watford and Bournemouth over the last four seasons. Jason Euell is expected to return to the squad after being dropped from Saturday's defeat at Aston Villa, but Gary Rowett, Richard Rufus and Hermann Hreidarsson all have knee injuries. Carlton Cole still has a hip injury and will see a specialist this week.

Curbishley added: "I've been here 13 years and we've never done anything in the League Cup. We've got to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup twice but nothing in the League Cup. It's something we've got to address. We've found it difficult to break lower-division teams down but the players will be up for it."