Powell thanks current Millwall striker for earlier Charlton contribution ahead of derby (From News Shopper)

Powell thanks current Millwall striker for earlier Charlton contribution ahead of derby

3:18pm Thursday 14th March 2013 in Sport By Paul Green

CHRIS Powell has paid tribute to Millwall striker Rob Hulse for what he did for the Addicks earlier this season ahead of this Saturday’s derby with the Lions.

Hulse was a Charlton player on loan from QPR when the two rivals drew 0-0 at The Den in December but returned to Loftus Road at the turn of the year once his temporary deal in SE7 ended.

Millwall subsequently went on to sign the 33-year-old in a similar loan from the Hoops and now the experienced frontman will be looking to shoot down Powell’s side this weekend.

Despite this, the Charlton manager was keen to stress this morning how much Hulse had contributed to the red and white cause during his stay at The Valley.

Powell said: “Rob came in when we lost Yann and Ricardo to injury, so he came in and did a fantastic job for us.

“He was a good professional, trained really well, was good in the dressing room but of course those boys got fit and financially we couldn’t really do it.

“But he is someone who I felt did extremely well for us and he went back (to QPR) and the opportunity arose for him to go to Millwall.

“We weren’t in a position to do it so sadly he went on to Millwall.

“He has shown his worth there and we wish him well.”

This will be the fourth and final south-east London derby for the Addicks this season and Powell is yet to enjoy a victory, something he and his players are determined to put right on Saturday.

He said: “The Palace games were tight but we lost them and that was a great shame for our fans.

“The Millwall game I felt was a dogged performance.

“They were in a really good run of form at that time and it was our first clean sheet for a while.

“Things have changed for them somewhat.

“They will obviously be ecstatic with what has happened with them with regards to the FA Cup but Kenny knows, like myself, you live and die by what you do week in, week out in the league.

“He will be looking at trying to restore some sort of form for them and form is the right word because that goes right out of the window in games like this.

“It really is about adrenalin, about the atmosphere, about handling the whole day and we will be hoping to really carry on what we’ve done in the last two games.”

Millwall go into the game on the back of last night’s 1-0 FA Cup quarter-final triumph at Ewood Park, although Powell doesn’t necessarily believe the Lions’ hectic recent schedule will work in Charlton’s favour.

He explained: “There is that aspect, people always talk about that and footballers like to play.

“The way it is these days with recovery and with all the modern science, you do recover quite quickly.

“We had three games in a week last week and at the end of it we won a real tough game away at Huddersfield.

“There is the travelling aspect, there is all that but I think a lot of the time players like to be out on the pitch, they like to be playing in games such as us against Millwall on Saturday.

“They will be hoping they come out on top both sets of players, but ultimately we do need to turn things around at home.

“Our fans have been magnificent with us all season and we really need to give them something because they fully deserve it.

“A lot of them have missed a lot of our victories because they can’t all travel away, but it is about us handling everything that is thrown at us in the remaining nine games and that all begins on Saturday against Millwall.”

Charlton will be boosted by the return of talismanic striker Yann Kermorgant following his recent suspension for seeing red in the 2-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest on February 23.

Powell confirmed: “He will be in the squad, he is obviously a major player for us.

“It was a real shame we missed him for three games, technically four because I count the Forest game as a game he missed because he was sent off in that game.

“But he has trained really, really well.

“I think he has realised what happened wasn’t him and he needs to handle that because he is a danger and people will see him as a danger.

“I’m pleased to welcome him back and apart from Leon Cort and Danny Hollands, our squad is relatively OK.”

Follow @NewsShopperSprt for live updates from Charlton v Millwall on Saturday and all the post-match reaction from both sides.