Charlton Athletic's U21s continued their pre-season preparations on Tuesday evening with a friendly against Bremen-Liga outfit OSC Bremerhaven.
Three different Charlton sides played throughout the 90 minute fixture, with much of the squad stepping up from the U18s side to the U21s.
Josh Hebert looked lively in the opening stages, attacking down the left-hand side.
Chris Lock’s team went 1-0 down in the first-half, and trailed at half-time.
Henry Rylah produced Charlton’s best chance of the game, with a volley that almost caught the goalkeeper off guard.
Despite their efforts, the U21s were beaten 3-0, with the final goal coming in spectacular fashion from the halfway line.
Reflecting on the fixture, Lead U21 Coach Chris Lock was pleased with the challenge it provided for his young squad.
“It was a really good test for us, if you look at at a lot of the pre-season fixtures that we have put in place, we have done it to stretch them as much as we can,” said Lock.
“Everyone that we are playing National League level sides, so they’ve been really tough tests.”
He also highlighted how many of his new squad have stepped up from younger age groups, and that there are learnings that can be taken.
“A lot of these players have moved up from U18s football, the vast majority of the group have. We have had a lot of success with players moving up into the first team. For myself and Sols [Chris Solly] this is the first time in a couple of years where the group is very different from what we finished with last season.”
“It has been a lot of learning, looking at mentalities, personalities and a lot of their characters is what we are looking at right now.”
“We want build comradery and connections, between staff and players. When you get away and you are living with each other for 24 hours a day, seven days in a week, you learn a lot more about each other.”
Lock thanked Valley Gold for their contribution to the U21s pre-season camp.
“These types of trips are invaluable so the fact that Valley Gold keep on helping us and and sponsoring us to be able to do these trips, it’s massive,” he explained.
Charlton: Woodham (Hardy 60); Brown (Valentine 60), Elliott (Laqeretabua 60), St-Aimie (Dawkins 60), Davis (Burke 60); Thomas (Podgorny 60), Safa (Belton 60), McMillan (Washington-Amoah); Rylah (Richman 60), Burnham (Mylona 46 (Reid 60)), Hebert (Tagoe 60)
Charlton fans can support the academy by signing up to the Valley Gold scheme. Valley Gold enables fans to support the club's academy in unearthing the talents of tomorrow, as well as giving them the chance to win cash prizes.
Click here for more information on how you can become a Valley Gold member.
Supporters can follow updates on the team's trip to North Germany across our social media channels. Follow @CharltonAcademy on X and @thecafcacademy on Instagram.
