ROBBO SCARED OF ALL THE FAKE BOOS

KARL ROBINSON fears he will cop some flak today – from Gillingham’s fake fans.

The Gills are one of the few clubs in the lower divisions that play canned chanting through the tannoy.

And Oxford boss Robinson believes he might be on the receiving end. He said: “It will be different and a first for us.

“Hopefully it’s not fans singing how much they hate me.

“It will be tough but every away game me is the unknown and I have enjoyed the he challenge of that.

“Who knows what Saturday has in store for us?” Robinson believes lack of f real fans is bringing the best out of referees – and himself.

He added: “One thing it has done is it’s humanised referees and given them a personality.

“You can hear them and they can hear you, so you have to be a little more careful in what you say.

“I think I’ve been quite good on that, except for the two yellow cards I’ve had – they weren’t my fault.

“When the crowd’s there you shout things as a manager to get above the noise. Now you don’t need to shout, so you’re emotionally more connected to the game, but in a much calmer way.”

Oxford saw their game at home to Crewe called off last weekend only hours before kick-off. But that may have helped them as Josh Ruffels (bottom), Alex Gorrin and Sam Winnall are all now fit.

They have just three points to their name after losing in last season’s play-off final to Wycombe.

Robinson said: “We’re leaving a lot of players behind for the first time in a long time.

“We need to get a rhythm going now but we are into a new cycle. We built a side and then this summer we have rebuilt again.

“But I am excited about where this squad can take us. Our b biggest worry has been that we haven’t fo found a consistent r rhythm – home, away, home, away and playing with a regular team.

“There’s no way of g getting round the i injuries j i we had or games being called off.

“But we can affect the forthcoming games.”

Gillingham boss Steve Evans (above) says his side will need to produce their best performance of the season to win today.

Despite making an underwhelming start to the campaign, Evans rated Oxford as one of the favourites for promotion from League One and said: “The one thing they have got is big resources but they spend them very well.

“They have an outstanding squad, a very capable manager, a good football club.

“We will have to be at our very, very best to get something from the game and probably produce our best performance of the season to get the three points.”