George Jones reports
Karl Robinson wants his side to provide a positive response when they take on Rochdale on Saturday afternoon (3pm).
The Addicks were beaten for the first time in 2017 on Tuesday night when they suffered a 1-0 reverse against Oldham Athletic and the boss hopes that they can bounce back at the weekend.
“The positivity has to stay among us,” he said. “We’ve lost the unbeaten run this year and we have to be eager and disciplined enough to go on another run.
“It’s obviously been a quick turnaround but that is part and parcel of being a professional footballer. It’s not ideal but it is what it is and we have to accept the challenge and we are ready.
“We stayed over on Tuesday night, trained Wednesday, recovered yesterday and trained again this morning – we’ve tried to do everything physically, mentally and tactically to prepare and now we head back up there.”
Following Tuesday’s result, the Addicks now sit nine points outside of the play-off places but Robinson says neither he or his players have given up hope of reaching the top six.
He said: “I don’t see why that shouldn’t be the case. We obviously have to start winning games and the way to do that is by scoring more goals.
“We’ve worked on some crossing and finishing drills - as we do every day - and we’re trying to get goal-scoring into the players’ psyche more.
“Hopefully, if we can be hard working and disciplined enough then we can put a right good run together. We need a desire and application and, up to now, the players have certainly conducted themselves in the perfect manner.”
Charlton will have a good away following behind them at the weekend, with a number of fans traveling to the match on the club’s free Valley Away coach services. Robinson wants to send them home happy.
“It’s a nice offer from the club [to put on coaches],” he said. “It’s important that our fans are supported in the right way.
“They’ve given us great support since I’ve been here, and before that, and it is a gesture that has been taken up quite well I’m told.
“The most important thing is that we put a performance on for them; they’ll want to see us play well and win.
“The ones that travelled the other day [to Oldham] showed such tremendous dedication to their club. I feel like we let them down with the result.
“We tried hard, the stats don’t lie with the chances and possession that we had but we couldn’t turn it into a goal, which is obviously the most important stat of them all.
“They went home disappointed, which wasn’t nice, and hopefully on Saturday we can send them back down the M6 and M1in a positive frame of mind.”
PRE MATCH | Robinson seeking positive response from Charlton
February 17th, 2017