Ahead of Saturday’s league clash at home to Leyton Orient, Alex Mitchell discussed the season ahead and how he has settled into life at the club.
“It’s nice to be back home,” he said. “When I came in it was maybe a bit of a reality shock. In my opinion, I did well last year so I thought I would walk in and just start where I left off. But it’s a new club, new philosophy, so I’m getting used to that. The gaffer is very demanding with physical data, so you’re cramping every other day!
“I remember playing Charlton last year – the game we have under our belt probably shows how far this club has come in terms of doing the dirty side and making sure we don’t concede. If you don’t concede, you’re halfway there, aren’t you? It’s the old saying: defences win leagues.
“That’s something I think we’ve got to pride ourselves on. We’ve got enough in the building to win games attacking-wise, but you’ve got to give yourselves a chance at the other side by not conceding as many goals, if you do concede.”
Club legend and CharltonTV commentator Peter Shirtliff recently referred to Mitchell as a “proper defender”, a description the defender was happy to accept.
“I think that’s me to a tee. That’s what I pride myself on. It’s dying now – centre-halves aren’t what centre-halves used to be. The best teams in the league – like Portsmouth last year, their centre-halves were like me,” he said.
“They wanted to defend – it makes a massive impact on your season.”
Coming off the back of an impressive season on loan at Lincoln City, Mitchell has taken a lot from his time with the Imps.
“Every loan I’ve had, I’ve learned something massively. I think last year was probably the biggest of all,” he said.
“Probably the biggest thing I’ve learnt is ‘one game at a time’. We’ve obviously done well against Wigan but there’s still 45 games left. It’s a good start, and obviously you want to start well but it’s not the be-all-and-end-all.
“Orient will be a different test to Wigan and to Bolton who we have after that.”
Having made 30 appearances while on loan at Leyton Orient in 2021/22, Mitchell is looking forward to facing his former side.
“I played Orient last year and got a bit of stick from the crowd,” he said. “But I love it, I don’t mind it. If I didn’t play football I’d go to football and I’d be one of them. Give me abuse, give me whatever.”
