Gary Rowett on Charlton Athletic test and potential Millwall changes for derby

BY ALEX GRACE

Millwall manager Gary Rowett has been impressed with Charlton Athletic’s results since the season restarted.

The Lions make the short trip to SE7 tomorrow night to face their South London rivals with both sides needing the points.

The Lions hold an impressive 24-year unbeaten record against the Addicks but Lee Bowyer’s side go into the fixture in the better form with two wins and a draw since the restart.

“I’ve been impressed with them but at the same time they’ve scored two goals from set-pieces and won both games 1-0,” said Rowett. “If you take those opportunities and defend well then you can win them games, just like we could have done. But yes, I’ve been impressed with their results so far, we’ve got to go there and try to win.”

The game will have no fans present due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Rowett said: ”You’re going there as a local derby – but there’s no fans there. So it’s not really going to be like a local derby, is it? So actually, for us we should be able to go there a play with a little bit of freedom like any of the games, they are fighting for their lives and we’ve got to play well to win it.”

It will be the third game in six days for Millwall.

“We might need to make some changes,” said Rowett. “ I think it’s going to be hard for one or two to go again for the third game in six days and it might be that we are really, really, going to test the depth of our squad, which at the moment is a little bit of a concern because we haven’t got a very big squad and we’ve got some key injures.

“It’s not going to feel like a London derby with no fans, but we will treat it like one and treat it like a game we want to win and recognise the importance for our fans watching.”