PRE MATCH | Robinson looking forward to London derby

George Jones reports

Karl Robinson wants his side to do their talking on the pitch when they host local rivals Millwall at The Valley on Saturday (3pm).

It is less than a month since the two clubs faced one another at The Den – an encounter that the Lions won 3-1 – but a very different Addicks XI is set to take to the field at the weekend.

And, although he did not want to build up the match too much, the Manager said that he would love to record our first victory over the Lions in 21 years on Saturday.

“We’ve not beaten them for a long time," he said. "We get that and we understand that but every run comes to an end. We want to be the ones to do that.

“They’ll want to keep it going, we’ll want to break it but all of the talking in the world is meaningless, really. A lot of talking was done before our last game and we didn’t perform.

“We’re on a good run of form, having taken seven points from nine, and they’re on a good run too but we can only worry about ourselves.

“When you look at what our bench will be on Saturday, you’ll see that it is getting closer to what we want to be like.

“There are hopefully still one or two things to be done this month – we’re not the finished article – and the squad will certainly look different to the one that played them a few weeks ago.”

He added: “We are proud to be associated with this football club and we know what this fixture means. After they beat Bournemouth in the FA Cup on Saturday, the first club they mentioned was us. That shows you how big the game is.

“Derby games are brilliant and they are why our game is probably the best in the world - because of the atmospheres we can create.

“It’s going to be bitterly cold but I’m sure the atmosphere will be very warm and hostile come 3pm on Saturday.”

The Addicks have been active in the January transfer window so far, signing four players, and could also have a couple of others returning from injury.

He said: “There’s a newness to the group at the minute; quite a bit of getting to know each other. It will take time to build a rapport and we’re hopefully getting closer.

“Declan Rudd trained again today – as he has done all week. Ricky Holmes trained. Tony Watt trained fully today. Jake Forster-Caskey came into the group – he hasn’t done any training with the group yet but has done some individual and U23s stuff. We’re getting there.”