After a gap of 105 days, the Addicks resumed the 2020/21 campaign with a 1-0 win at Hull courtesy of a goal from Jason Pearce.
There was no place for loanees Andre Green and Matt Smith in the squad.
They may have been the injury niggles Lee Bowyer referred to earlier in the week, though the manager did say that Chuks Aneke had been struggling.
The players were obviously rusty, but fitness wise, they had the edge on their opponents.
Tomer Hemed and Aiden McGeady had their best games for the club, and the central defensive pairing – Tom Lockyer and Jason Pearce – performed stoicallym Albie Morgan and Deji Oshilaja on the left hand side of the team also deserve a mention.
One noticeable difference with behind closed doors games in Germany has been the above average number of away wins.
Charlton were one of six away winners in the Championship on Saturday, with only one home victory recorded.
The decisive goal came after 18 minutes. A vicious McGeady shot was turned aside for a corner by the Hull keeper. Hemed headed on for Pearce to bundle home from close range at the far post.
The Addicks were fairly comfortable with few scary moments to deal with.
The Tigers’ best chance was in the second half when Lockyer and Pearce got in a muddle, but the hosts failed to capitalise on it.
Charlton had the better chances and Macauley Bonne should have done better with a free header in the second period.
The win was enough to take the visitors up to 19th in the table.
Early days, but a hugely encouraging start to the mini season. Here is what Lee Bowyer had to say after the final whistle:
“I think it (the win) was well deserved. From the first whistle we were at it. We looked sharp. This week building up to it, I said to the players that they have had a good week and they were ready to go and they showed that.
”To get the goal quite early on was nice. I think we settled down after that and we got into some very good areas. I thought that on another day we maybe could have scored another two or three goals. Overall, a clean sheet as well. I’m very, very pleased.”
“The good thing is if you can get off to a winning start, now we are out of the bottom three, it’s in our hands.
“I believe in our players and I’ve said that all along. Now we’ve got a week to prepare for QPR, it’s going to be another tough game but another game we can win if we do the right things.
“It’s a good start but it’s not over yet and we have to keep fighting for every point and we did that today. I’m really proud of them.”
Charlton: Phillips; Mathews, Lockyer, Pearce, Oshilaja (Purrington 72); McGeady (Field 82), Pratley, Cullen, Morgan (Doughty 61); Bonne (Williams 82), Hemed (Aneke 72).
Subs (not used): Amos, Sarr, Oztumer, Davison.
Goal: Pearce 18.
Booked: Oshilaja 38 (foul on), Williams 90 (foul ), Pratley 92 (foul on).
Hull:Long; Pennington, MacDonald, De Wijs, Elder; Batty (Lewis-Potter 73), Kane, Bowler (Scott 56), Toral (Honeyman 56), Wilks (Samuelsen 85); Eaves (Magennis 56).
Subs (not used): Tafazolli, Burke, Stewart, Ingram
Booked: Batty 45 (handball).
Referee: Darren England (Lancashire).
Attn: N/A.