Watford Under-21s fell to a 2-0 defeat against Charlton Athletic, despite an improved performance at the Orbital Fasteners Stadium in the Professional Development League.

It was a tricky first half, with little in the way of clear-cut chances. The Young Hornets enjoyed a positive spell in the opening stages, although the game would settle soon after as Watford waited patiently for their opportunity on the counter-attack.

Forward Tobi Adeyemo came closest for the hosts, poking Luigi Gaspar’s free-kick just wide of the post before the referee blew for the interval. After the break, Alfie Marriott was summoned into action to deny multiple Charlton efforts as the visitors looked to break the deadlock. The goalkeeper’s best stop came denying Tyreece Campbell’s powerful strike.

Entering the final 20 minutes, the Addicks continued to build momentum and eventually found the opener as Daniel Kanu latched onto a through-ball, rounded Marriott and passed the ball into an empty net.

They would go on to double their lead after being awarded a spot-kick in the final minutes, which Aaron Henry duly converted. Ultimately, the Young Hornets were unable to respond, and the match concluded in the Addicks’ favour.

Under-21 Lead Coach Omer Riza was disappointed with the result, but believes there were some positives to take out of the encounter.

“Charlton are always a tough side to play against,” he began. “They are always aggressive, they want to play and they want to get on the ball. You know you’re going to come up against that.

“We are going through a period at the club where we are trying to give the youngsters opportunities and a chance to play during stressful games. I think we have given them a lot of that so far this year.

“Every game is an improvement; some games we haven’t done enough, some games we have lacked physicality and some games we haven’t been able to deal with quality or know-how. There is a whole range of things that the players are learning at the moment, and today we controlled parts of the match well.

“I was really happy with our build-up play and our chance creation through the middle of the park. We got into good forward areas, but were we aggressive enough or detailed enough to cause them a problem? Probably not, so that is something we will work on and keep refining.

“In possession, I thought we showed good structure and we didn’t allow them to play between the lines often. We wanted to force them into areas. The game plan in that respect was good, but a goal was coming for Charlton. We got into half-time at 0-0 which we haven’t done often this season, and we had good control after the break.

“The boys have done well today and I was happy with parts of their game. They are learning and developing all the time.”

The Young Hornets won’t have long to wait until their next game, as they travel up to Ipswich to face the Tractor Boys on Friday (September 30, 1pm KO). Riza will be hoping to build on some encouraging individual performances.

He added: “There were some really positive individual performances today. I thought Luigi [Gaspar] played well today in the single pivot, and he had a lot to deal with. I thought Jack Grieves was excellent today, and he picked up some nice pockets of space and tried to link the ball up. Alfie Marriott made some good saves and played well out of the back.

“We just need to keep working, and what I don’t want the boys to do now is lose confidence or the ability to go on and pick themselves up. That is important for me.

“Overall, it’s a pleasing performance, even though we lost, because we are getting outcomes which show there are improvements being made. We now have to take that into our next match.”