Charlton boss Karl Robinson has confirmed Tony Watt’s departure from the club - and says the striker wanted to leave.

News Shopper revealed earlier today that Watt, 23, had been speaking to clubs in Belgium.

Charlton’s need for a frontman showed in their 2-0 defeat to Plymouth, where Robinson’s men wasted multiple opportunities. Josh Magennis hit the crossbar and Jake Forster-Caskey had a volley cleared off the line.

And Watt’s Valley exit leaves Magennis and Lee Novak as the club’s only senior strikers.

Robinson said: “Tony has moved on. It’s something he wanted so he wanted a fresh start. I’ve said all along, it’s his decision and it’s his prerogative.”

When asked whether Robinson would have liked to keep the Scot, he added: “That will stay internal.”

The Liverpudlian continued: “It was one of those ones where he felt it was best for his career to leave and he wanted a new challenge. It’s what he wanted to do.

“With Tony, we wish him luck and it’s a decision that he had to make, but we’re starting to get rid of players who have been here for a long period of time and we’re starting to clean an awful lot of things out.

“It’s hard behind the scenes to get that right but persevere with us and we’ll get it right and try to make it an exciting season.”

MORE: Player ratings from Charlton’s defeat to Plymouth

Robinson revealed Charlton have held talks with four or five strikers about a move to SE7.

Magennis, who scored 10 goals last season, is the Addicks’ only fit and available forward with Lee Novak suspended. 

Robinson said: “We’ve spoken to one or two strikers. For every club from the top of the Premier League to the bottom of the conference, they are looking for a striker to score 20 goals a season. 

“So, we’re fishing in the same pond as every other football club. We just hope we find the right one that’s competitive. 

“We know there are four or five that we've spoken to who we like. There are two or three where we think we've been out-priced so we won't be chasing them. So we just need to get it right. 

“To buy a striker that’s going to score you 25 goals, it’s going to cost £1.5m to £2m - when do you see a team in League One do that? 

“We have got transfer money there, the owner has said that. But there’s only a certain amount that we've got. And can I find the top striker for that money? If I can’t, I’ll go into the loan market and find that top striker. 

“We’d be developing him for somebody else but our job is to make sure we’re competitive this year. And if that’s the case, if we’re successful this year, we’ll [then] buy our own.”