Karl Robinson addressed the local media on Thursday morning to look ahead to his side’s fixture against Northampton Town at The Valley on Saturday (3pm).
The Manager was asked about the Cobblers, his ongoing search for a striker, injuries, a possible loan move for goalkeeper Dillon Phillips, the positives he could take from last weekend’s performance at Plymouth Argyle and more.
Scroll below to read five of the key talking points from his pre-match presser or click here to watch his press conference in full
What can Charlton expect from Northampton on Saturday?
“I think they will be our biggest test so far. People look at Charlton and what has gone on in the summer and since Northampton’s takeover their squad has become very strong too.
“We have to approach the game in the right frame of mind and as we did the Bristol Rovers game. I’ve watched their game against Fleetwood and they should have won it clearly. We rued our missed chances against Plymouth last Saturday and they were exactly the same in their game.
“We know exactly what we are coming up against, they’ll know what they are coming up against and it is about us implementing our style on the game. We want to take the game to them and it is one that we’ll have to be very tactically astute in.”
The ongoing striker search
“We’re not close to concluding anything at the moment. We’re trying and it is obvious where we need players.
“The team have got a game on Saturday that is more important than what we are trying to do [in the transfer window]. We have got a squad that will be very competitive at the weekend and the positivity has to stay the same.
“The players have trained really well this week - they have really put a right shift in - and we have prepared really well. I can only control what we have here and what we do have here has been very good.”
When will Mark Marshall and Ben Reeves be back on the pitch?
“We’re still looking at a couple of months for Mark. It was a three-month injury when he sustained it and we are still a little way away.
“Mark is slightly ahead of schedule but when you have a knee ligament injury there are not too many corners that you can cut. He believes he’s a quicker healer than anyone else so we will let him keep believing that.
“We knew Reevesy was going to be a slow burner when he came in and we still need to get him up to speed. He’s getting himself fully fit now so that he is ready for a prolonged run of games. When you have got the likes of Reevesy and Mark out, it leaves you a bit short.”
An opportunity for Dillon Phillips to head out on loan?
“Dillon needs to play somewhere. I’ve put my neck on the line and said that Dillon will certainly be a top number one at this football club in the future.
“He and everyone believes that he needs a full 12 months of playing and being that here at such a big club can sometimes be difficult. We are trying to bring someone in that is experienced so that if Ben is not doing well then he can push him.
“We’ve have a lot of queries about Dillon from Football League clubs.”
Chance creation a big positive
“We didn’t create enough chances last season; they were at a bit of a premium. If you look at the performance against Plymouth, I still can’t fathom how that was a nil for us.
“We should have been four up at half time and that is not an exaggeration. You have to stay strong in your beliefs and in what you do and we have proven over the last few weeks that we are going to create a lot of chances.
“We took them against Ipswich and our performance was similar against Plymouth but we just did not take them.
“The supporters at Plymouth were great; they backed us throughout the whole game and even at the end they clapped us which was meant a lot.
“We want to get a win for them on Saturday.”