Luke Chambers has assured Sky Sports he is available for interview, if required, after today’s game at Charlton — just as he was last year when he inadvertently swore in front of a live audience of millions.
Asked what he remembered most about Town’s 1-0 win at The Valley a year ago the skipper smiled: "Mainly swearing on the telly. No, seriously, it was one of our best days of the entire season and it’s a good memory for us. We had the backdrop of our fans — what did we take, 3,000 or something crazy like that?
"It’s always been like that since I’ve been here — it’s obviously a good day out so why not have another one on Saturday? Our team’s a little bit different to what it was then, of course, and Charlton have just had a couple of good wins after going through a tough period themselves.
"They’ll be looking to get another three points but we’ll be going down there doing our usual thing, trying to stop them playing, not letting them settle and frustrating them. We’ll look to impose our strengths on them.”
Chambers recalled the nightmare moment when his emotions got the better of him, when he and last-gasp match-winner Noel Hunt appeared for interview soon after the final whistle.
He said: "We had just scored with virtually the last kick and 30 seconds later we were live on the telly.
"I’ve known Noel for a while through his brother and from playing against him for years. We’re still good friends now. I was delighted for him because he’d had so much negativity in the previous couple of years with Leeds.
"Emotion just overcame me and apart from being delighted for him, there’s no one who likes winning more than I do.
"It was a great win, especially with the goal coming in the last minute and we’d had a bit of fraction between the teams — the usual stuff that goes on. They would have been the same, going wild, if they had scored.
"Our job is to win football matches and I believe that in the game today there are too many football friends. It’s not like it was. You get people high-fiving before games and having little chats with opponents. I don’t get that.
"We’re going down there and we know they will be trying to take points away from us and take money out of our pockets by denying us our win bonuses. We should be going down there wanting to destroy them.
"The swearing was unfortunate but I was told off like a naughty schoolboy by the interviewer and I had a word with him after that.
"But the next time we were on they came to me after the match for an interview and it was fine. If they want another live chat at Charlton I’ll be okay with it.”
Chambers was shocked to hear that Town have not won any of their last 11 games on the box since that Hunt-inspired success at Charlton on the corresponding Saturday last year. "Really? It’s not great, is it?” he said. "But I couldn’t give you a reason for it.
"We’ve been pretty consistent in the year since that win at Charlton so I couldn’t tell you why. It’s not nerves or anything like that. Stage fright? I can’t wait to ask the lads about that.
"The early kick-off at 12.30 isn’t ideal but it’s a game of football and we’ve played enough of them over the years.
"You just eat at a different time. Instead of having it at 11.30 I’ll be having my spaghetti carbonara at nine o’clock. We don’t have too many boys who are superstitious and get wrapped up in stuff like that. It’s our job, it’s what we’ve got to do. You’ve got to do whatever feels right and hopefully it will improve our record on TV.”
Informed that the home crowd are planning a second-minute protest against the chairman and board, Chambers replied: "We won’t look at anything like that but as the away team you always look to frustrate the home team.
"The onus is on them to produce the attacking football but we never sit back whoever we are playing against.
"If we go into the game knowing there’s a possibility of any sort of negativity in the crowd towards the club or the team it’s going to benefit us, I would say.
"It won’t affect us whatever they do in the second minute. We’ll be going there with a big backing and looking forward to trying to take another three points.”