Anthony Hayes was pleased to see the Addicks progress to the knockout stages of the Papa John’s Trophy with a 2-1 win against Brighton & Hove Albion U21s at The Valley.
Jack Payne scored the winner in stoppage time after Brighton had pulled a goal back following Sam Lavelle’s opener on the stroke of half-time.
Speaking to CharltonTV, men’s first-team coach Hayes said: “First and foremost it's great to progress, that was the aim before the game. We made hard work of it but it is pleasing to progress and we have another one of these ties to look forward to.
“We had to do a lot of suffering without the ball, particularly in the second half. I thought first half they had a lot of the ball without really hurting us and I thought we carried a big threat. They are technically very proficient players and their shape and style would cause anyone problems.
“We were confident that eventually we’d take a chance and eventually it was the 92nd minute for us to do that.”
The Addicks handed debuts to 17-year-old Zach Mitchell and 16-year-old Henry Rylah. The duo became the 17th and 18th academy graduates to represent Charlton’s men’s first-team this season.
Hayes said: “We’ve had two debuts tonight, Zach Mitchell and Henry Rylah, which is always a proud moment and there was a nice little round of applause at the end from the senior lads who played the game but also the lads who weren’t in the squad which was always nice and what this club has always been about.
"It’s important for the senior lads who haven’t been playing to get some more minutes into the legs and they will benefit from that for sure. It was a heavy pitch towards the end and they came through unscathed which is the most important thing.”
The Addicks return to The Valley on Saturday to take on Coalville Town in the Emirates FA Cup first round. Click here to get your tickets.