Charlton boss Dean Holden explains why he chose youngsters Elerewe and Ness over senior defenders at Oxford

Charlton boss Dean Holden said his decision to start youngsters Deji Elerewe and Lucas Ness over senior defenders Michael Hector and Terell Thomas at Oxford was to counter the hosts’ pace up top.

Elerewe, 19, made his first league start for the club but was hooked by the Addicks boss before half-time. Ness, 21, was making his fourth league start of the campaign after being benched in favour of Hector against Port Vale last weekend.

Hector’s first league start of the campaign was that clash with the Valiants but his appearance was blighted by an error that led to Ethan Chislett scoring Vale’s second.

Thomas has started twice in League One but both he and Hector, who have made over 350 league appearances between them throughout their careers, were benched at the Kassam Stadium.

Hector and Thomas both signed new deals with the club after their contracts expired in the summer. Lloyd Jones arrived on a free transfer from Cambridge United and has started every League One outing so fay.

Asked if this said something about his senior defenders’ fitness and performances so far this campaign, Holden said: “I’m not going to start talking about individuals after a run of results like this. I make a decision on the team selection. We knew their key threats today were in that forward area in terms of pace. That’s why I went for some pace in the back line.

“Sometimes you have to give something up to find something else. The game panned out in a manner that doesn’t sit well with us. It’s another sucker punch for us. The supporters again will be flat. It’s up for me to lift everybody and we’ll get back to work.

“We’re light, we know that. We hope we can be active in this last few days of the window prior to Friday’s deadline. We’ve suffered key injuries. None of these are excuses, I’m just answering your question.

“I made a decision today to leave Michael (Hector) out, we went with some pace in that back line. We looked a bit inexperienced and naïve in terms of how the game panned out. You make these calls. I’m really pleased with the second half. We’ve got to make sure we don’t look for excuses.”

The transfer window closes on Friday. Charlton are carrying some players in their squad that they would like to move on, but when asked if outgoings are necessary before any more incomings, Holden commented: “I’ll have some conversations with (technical director) Andy Scott and we’ll decide exactly what the strategy is.

“We’re all aware of where we need to recruit, the positions we need to be active in. It’s a big six days for us.”

PHOTOS: KYLE ANDREWS