Lee Bowyer felt his side were much improved as they beat Swindon Town 3-1 to move into the second round of the Carabao Cup.
The Charlton boss was particularly pleased with his goalscorers Macauley Bonne, Charlie Barker and Chuks Aneke and said his team’s performance was a lot better than the midweek showing at Wimbledon.
He said: “I think it was a good performances from start to finish. The youngsters out there put in good performances. I think we controlled the game for large parts of it. Maybe for the first 10-15 minutes we looked a bit nervy but from then onwards we were in control.
“The players are competing to play in the first league game, so they had to step it up from the other night. The other night wasn’t really what we are about, we took our foot off the pedal a little bit but today was very professional and we finished the game well. When we changed to the back three we controlled it even more and then moved the ball really well.”
17-year-old Barker netted in just his second game for the club and Bowyer was full of praise for the young defender.
“I’m really pleased for young Charlie to score,” he said, “I think he was excellent again. As a defender he was good in possession, his defending was excellent and to get the goal I’m really pleased for him and for Chuks to come off the bench and make that impact and score is obviously good.
“On Macauley Bonne, I have to say that is by far the best performance he’s played for us. I just told him that, I’ve criticised Macca in the past but he was outstanding today, outstanding. It was a real man’s performance up top on his own. I’m really pleased for him as well.
"His goal was very good because I can assure you that isn't easy, chest and a volley, especially on the run. It was a great finish from him. He had no time to think about it, it was just touch and finish."