INTERVIEW | New signing Nathan Byrne eyeing a derby debut

George Jones reports

New signing Nathan Byrne already has his eyes on Saturday’s local derby against Millwall at The Valley.

The winger put pen to paper on a loan deal in SE7 until the end of the season on Monday morning and, having trained with his new teammates for the first time, he says that he is hoping to make his Charlton debut at the weekend.

“Those are the games that all footballers want to play in,” he said. “You want to play in big games and derbies and for that to be the first game makes this move even more exciting.

“I’m delighted to get the move sorted early in the transfer window and to sign on a Monday gives me a full week to prepare for, hopefully, some sort of involvement on Saturday.

“I want to be playing games, I wasn’t getting that at Wigan, and when Karl got in contact I was really excited about the possibility of coming here.

“I already know what type of Manager he is and how he likes to get his teams playing, having played against them seven or eight times before. I know what he is about and I’m looking forward to working under him and his staff.”

Ahead of sealing his switch to The Valley, Byrne spoke to one of his former Swindon teammates, who now plies his trade in SE7.

He said: “I spoke to Nicky Ajose yesterday and a couple of days ago too. I said to him that something might come up.

“I knew Nicky from Swindon and Crawley – a lot of people say that we are brothers but I am the better looking one!”

Byrne was on the wrong end of a 3-0 defeat at The Valley with AFC Bournemouth in August 2011. He hopes to have some better memories of south-east London this time around.

He said: “There was a crash on the motorway and it took us nine hours to get to the hotel. We got in at half 11 at night and then the next day we got battered 3-0 by Charlton.

“That’s the only memory I have of playing at The Valley but I am looking forward to getting back there and seeing the supporters, starting on Saturday.”