Carson proving point in Charlton's cause 
It's lunchtime at Charlton's training ground and the first-team players are finished for the day. One by one they pass through the small reception, stopping to check for messages before heading home. Luke Young appears. "Who you here to see?" the club captain asks. When I answer Scott Carson, the right-back thinks for a moment before coming up with his verdict: "If it hadn't been for him we'd be dead and buried by now."
As compliments go, it is pretty emphatic for a goalkeeper on a season-long loan from Liverpool. Carson has done everything in his power to help Charlton's cause in their ongoing struggle to avoid relegation. In maintaining high standards over the past eight months, he has confirmed his reputation as one of England's brightest young keepers.
Yet, never before have Alan Pardew's side needed him more than they do today when the mother of all six-pointers visits the Valley. With only three games left after this, the clash with Sheffield United could make or break either team.
The stakes couldn't be higher. Championship football, and all its financial implications, hangs over both clubs like a very dark cloud.
For Carson, of course, the situation is slightly different. Whatever happens over the next three weeks, the 21-year-old Cumbrian is due to return to Anfield this summer. As long as he has given Charlton his best, he can head back up the M1 with a clear conscience, turning his thoughts instead to his position at Liverpool and whether Rafa Benitez deems him part of his plans.
So can that fact, in any way, take the heat off? Does Carson feel slightly detached from the mad scramble? Once he appears and we take a seat in the sunshine, the query is answered in the way you'd expect. "No, I've felt like a Charlton player from day one," he says. "Everyone helped me settle in straightaway. The last thing I want is to leave here with Charlton getting relegated. It's not something I want on my CV."
Actually, Young had already confirmed the goalie's total commitment by recalling a moment that made the squad laugh.
During what was supposed to be a light training session the night before playing at Manchester City recently, Carson pushed a shot on to a post, only to see it bounce back along the line. Clambering to his feet, he sprinted across, diving into a sliding tackle to hack the ball away. In doing that, though, he crashed into the post, his shinbone connecting with metal in a hefty collision.
Mention of the incident brings out a smile. "Yeah, everyone was saying, calm down, calm down, we don't want you getting injured. I just got up and shouted, 'See, everyone thinks I'm just here on loan, that it doesn't matter so much!' I was trying to say that I'm just as committed as anyone else.
"That's the way I like to train. I've seen some people who aren't really interested. They come in at five to ten and are out the door as soon as training's finished. I like to work hard on the training ground, and that way you're ready for Saturday."
Yes, Saturday. It is easy to forget that Carson hadn't actually experienced too many of those before coming south. Sixteen first-team games, in fact, comprised his entire professional career, one that started at Leeds, moved on to Liverpool and included a short spell on loan at Sheffield Wednesday.
Consequently, this season has been as much about getting his head around performing every week as dealing with Charlton's nail-biting plight. "I've never had that before," he says. "At Liverpool I might play in one game and then, two or three months later, I might get a cup match or something. I didn't feel comfortable with that. I felt a bit out of place. It was probably down to a lack of experience. I hadn't played in front of those kinds of crowds before. But after five or six games here it felt more natural. Coming here, I wanted to get as many games under my belt as possible but, you never know, if the first few games hadn't gone well I might have dropped out. Fortunately, I had a bit to do early on and that gave me confidence. Thankfully, that's stayed with me right through."
There are sure to be one or two moments this afternoon when Carson's confidence and ability are tested to the full as Neil Warnock's side go for the jugular. Too many matches these days are described as 'massive' but this one, surely, falls into that category. Carson agrees. "Everything depends on this game," he says. "The outcome will decide our fate, I think. We definitely can't afford to lose, but, hopefully, we can get the three points and that'll put us right in the mix.
"The gaffer was just saying today that he doesn't want people to be afraid because he thinks that we've stopped doing the things that got us results before. He thinks we've been a bit too conservative instead of going full out for the win. He wants us to go out and play like we did against West Ham - with no fear.
"We've got to start well. We haven't done that lately and we've ended up chasing the game. So if we can get a good start and maybe Benty [Darren Bent] can nick us a goal, then we can carry on from there."
Yet, with the sun beating down, with the groundsman's lawnmower humming away in the background, the end-of-season feel is only too evident. It's only natural to wonder what might happen next season.
"After playing a full season here, I don't really want to be going back to Liverpool and being forgotten again," he says. "I'd be taking a step back. Hopefully, I can keep the momentum going and show him [Benitez] I'm good enough to play there.
"If I was to go back to Liverpool and play in a Champions League game next season I think I'd be a lot better off after what I've been through here.
Hopefully, I'd have the nerve to deal with it."
The nerve, the commitment and the crucial saves - none of which have been missing during his loan spell. Think back to Young's words. If it wasn't for Carson, Charlton would already be down.
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