Robinson thanks fans for staying right to the very end

Speaking after Charlton’s thrilling comeback at home to Peterborough, manager Karl Robinson was full of praise for the home fans for sticking with the team.

Charlton scored two stoppage time goals to come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Karlan Ahearne-Grant netting a late equaliser. 

The full interview is available on Valley Pass here.

On if he thought the game was lost at any point

“No, I’m a weirdo, I just don’t take losing, I can’t accept it. I hate it. You ask the players, I kept saying ‘If we get one, we’ll get a second’, I felt a fragility in the game. They made it difficult for us. We put that many crosses in and corners in, something had to drop for us. I believe in my players. I’m not going to say I thought that at 90 minutes we’d get something out of the game but you’ve got to have that belief, you have to have that as a human being because without belief you are nothing. And the fans believe, even at 89 minutes they were still singing. 89 minutes, you are 2-0 down and they are still singing! Walking off, seeing the passion in people’s face, there is a unity.” 

On Karlan Ahearne-Grant scoring a late equaliser

“I’m so happy for him. I’ve kept persevering with him. I’ve kept trying him and sometimes people question that. I do see something in the young man. I’m not frightened to put young players on. You see Anfernee Dijksteel, you see Karlan, you see Joe Aribo, our three substitutions tonight were from our great academy. A big testament and a big thankyou needs to go to Steve Avory and his staff. When we are low on numbers like we are with seven in the treatment room. When you have to turn to these young players who have a great future at this football club. Joe came on and made a difference, Karlan made a difference and I though Anfernee Dijksteel made a big difference as well.”

On the passion of the supporters

“I’m proud of the players and I’m proud of the supporters. The passion of the fans coming in that tunnel. If that doesn’t motivate you as a man then nothing ever does. People screaming ‘come on lets do this, we need this’. I love that ‘we need’ because we do need this, this place needs it, the fans need it, the players need it, the future of the football club needs it. We need to keep moving forward, we know we weren’t at our fluent best.”

On injuries

“We’ve got Bauer on the treatment table. Pearce, Len, Pagey, Reevesy, Tariqe and Clarkey, so I’ve got a lot of players still to come back and Besty to get fitter. So, Charlton Athletic are going to get better. That’s the bonus. Charlton Athletic showed that they’ve got a never say die attitude. Charlton Athletic showed they’ve got people who are willing to put their bodies on the line when the going gets tough.” 

On Leon Best

“He showed tonight his touch is outstanding, his movement is very good. I said to you before, with those seven players to come back, with Besty to get better, we’re in a good position.”

Charlton are next at home on December 9th against Portsmouth. You can buy tickets for that game here.

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