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Inside View with Charlton goalkeeper Rob Elliot

Rob Elliot
Rob Elliot

Things haven’t quite gone to plan for us over the past week – or for me personally.

We were unable to take more than one point from the six available against Leyton Orient and Tranmere, and, unfortunately, I was unable to finish the match against Rovers due to injury.

I got a knock to my back as I came out to punch a ball at a cross and it was extremely uncomfortable. I did try to continue but it was hard to even kick the ball, never mind make any potential saves, so I had to come off.

It’s not the first injury I’ve had this season but hopefully I won’t be out for as long this time.

I missed six games in October and November but I was feeling much better at the start of the week and was back in the team for the 1-1 draw at Walsall on Tuesday night.

On the team front, we need to get back on track and make amends on our travels after not picking up as many as points as we hoped for from our last three home games.

We were frustrated after the defeat to Orient, not least because we felt the referee should have stopped the game when Adam Chambers elbowed Nicky Bailey in the build-up to their goal.

Whether Chambers meant it or not, the referee should stop the game if there’s a head injury, but he didn’t, and their player was allowed to go forward unchallenged.

The referee was only five yards from the incident and it could have been a serious injury. That’s why I got annoyed and I ended up being booked.

I didn’t swear, I didn’t shout, but the referee still booked me and when I tried to talk to him at the end of the game, he just ignored me.

The best referees are the ones who talk to you and explain their decisions – this one didn’t even acknowledge me, which made the entire evening even more frustrating.

Darren Randolph replaced me against Rovers, and couldn’t do anything about their goal – which was just one of those things. Sam Sodje was ready to head the ball clear but it took the slightest deflection and ended up going off the other side of his head into the net.

Our opponents over the next few weeks, Walsall, Swindon and Bristol Rovers, are all targeting play-off places this season, so we have the ability to inflict some damage on them as well as push ourselves back towards the automatic promotion places.

The table is so tight this season and everyone keeps swapping around at the top. There’s still a long way to go and all the top teams have still got to come to The Valley, which they won’t be looking forward to.

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