Charlton Athletic manager Ben Garner issues intriguing explanation for defensive change for Cheltenham defeat | OneFootball

Charlton Athletic manager Ben Garner has said that Sam Lavelle being dropped for inexperienced defenders is not a reflection on him.

Lucas Ness, 20, and 17-year-old Zach Mitchell both made their full league debuts for the club as part of a back three with Ryan Inniss on Friday night, while Lavelle was dropped to the bench, as the Addicks were beaten 1-0 by Cheltenham at The Valley.

Former Morecambe captain Lavelle, 26, had started each of the South Londoners last five League One and FA Cup games but was overlooked for this latest outing.

When asked for his reasoning on dropping Lavelle, Garner told London News Online: “Zach is more comfortable playing on the outside of the three than Sam [Lavelle] is.

“It was purely a decision based on that. It’s not that comparison directly between players, it’s what works best as a group. It was a case that Sam and Ryan, when we play a three, are both suited to playing in the middle of it.”

It was the latest poor result for Athletic, mounting more pressure on Garner speculation increasing on his future in the hotseat at The Valley. The Addicks are now winless in their last five league games and have lost their last two.

This pressure makes the decision to drop the more experienced Lavelle a surprise with Charlton needing to get a result to ease the pressure on Garner.

This latest defeat means Charlton are 17th, having won just five games so far this season with them looking down rather than up.

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The Verdict

It’s interesting that Garner opted to choose to go with an inexperienced back three for the game against Cheltenham.

Cheltenham were in better form that Charlton ahead of the fixture, meaning it was a must win and these sorts of decisions do lend to a manager under pressure. That being said, Ness had a steady game and the mistake for the goal came from the experienced Craig MacGillivary.

Going forward, it makes sense to have your experienced players avaialble, especially when you’re down towards the bottom of the table and in a poor run of form, which Charlton are.