Anthony Hayes wants the Addicks to take the positives from Saturday’s Valley thriller into the run of three consecutive cup games.
Charlton twice came back from two goals down to claim a point against high-flying Ipswich Town in stunning fashion, with George Dobson heading home in front of the Covered End nine minutes into injury time to cap a contest for the ages.
The Addicks host Brighton & Hove Albion U21 in their final group game of the Papa John’s Trophy at The Valley on Wednesday.
“As a group we really want to move forward from Saturday and take all of the positives,” Hayes said. “It was full of the ingredients that a successful team needs – loads of effort, desire and passion. The emotion at the end when Dobbo’s goal obviously goes in is why we all love the game.
“It was an incredible feeling. I was trying to remember afterwards was there any game that had four goals in six minutes’ worth of stoppage time! We all know what an incredible stadium The Valley is and moments like that really highlight how big an impact the fans can have. It also indicates what the players and the group are giving because they are giving absolutely everything at the minute.
“We don’t go into league action now but, like every game, we want to go in to win it,” he added. “We want to use these next three cup games to really take the positives from Saturday and move forward.”
Asked for an update on Mandela Egbo and Eoghan O’Connell, who were both forced off in the first half last weekend, Hayes said: “We’re still waiting on the scan results for both Eoghan and Mandela, so I’m sure the manager will give an update in due course on those once we do get the results.
“We’re going to rest a few because there were a few walking wounded on Saturday, but we’ll have a nice blend tomorrow of some senior players mixed with some youth.”
Although the young Seagulls cannot progress to the knockout stages, Hayes insists it will be a challenging fixture.
“Brighton are a good side,” he said. “They will have players who have and will go on to play in the Premier League, there’s no doubt about that. They are one of the most up and coming, forward-thinking clubs in the country and we’re expecting a very difficult game.
"Both technically and tactically they will pose us some questions. Obviously for their players they will be using it as a platform to showcase their qualities and try and maybe get a loan move in January.”