Charlton boss gives verdict on 6-1 friendly win over Dartford + answers why new signings not involved

Charlton manager Ben Garner has explained why new signings Conor McGrandles and Steven Sessegnon did not feature in today’s 6-1 friendly win at Dartford.

Fulham full-back Sessegnon signed on loan at the start of the week.

Midfielder McGrandles was the Addicks’ fourth capture of the transfer window on a free transfer after he rejected new terms at Lincoln City.

Garner said: “Conor McGrandles just had a little injury at the end of last season with Lincoln. I’d say he is a week or so away. Sess has been involved this week and he will come into that [being available for matches] next week. Corey Blackett-Taylor had a very minor knock, it wasn’t worth risking that today. He will come back in and get some minutes next week.”

Mandela Egbo, another of the new faces, came off at half-time and was wearing a brace on his right knee at the end of the fixture in Kent.

“The important thing pre-season is no injuries and we want to get minutes into them. Unfortunately we’ve picked up a bit of a knock on Mandela,” said Garner. “Hopefully that won’t be anything serious. Other than that everyone has come through really well and got 60 minutes overall. A really pleasing afternoon’s work.

“We picked two balanced teams and played in a slightly different way with each team in terms of the strengths of the players but the same principles that we wanted.”

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD