Charlton Athletic hand first action to new signing Timothy Ouma as U21 boss Chris Lock praises Micah Mbick for impressive recovery from knee injury

Addicks had smattering of first-teamers feature in 1-0 defeat to Bolton Wanderers

Timothy Ouma got his first minutes in a Charlton Athletic shirt on Tuesday afternoon as the new loan signing featured in their U21 Professional Development League match against Bolton Wanderers.

Picture: South London Sport: Charlton Athletic Edition

The Addicks paid the price for a succession of missed chances as they lost 1-0. Bolton’s Tobias Ritchie produced an excellent long-range lobbed finish from just inside the Addicks half in the 67th minute which cleared goalkeeper George Hardy.

To say what proved to be the clinching goal came against the run of play is something of an understatement. Charlton hit the woodwork three times through Reuben Reid, Micah Mbick and Josh Hebert. Wanderers goalkeeper Luke Hutchinson also made a number of vital saves to retain his clean sheet.

“How many chances do we need?” shouted a frustrated Hardy after Hutchinson produced a close-range stop from Hebert, who had successfully broken through a challenge in the box, in the second half. Shia-Lee Burnham also failed to convert after Hutchinson parried out a Rob Apter shot.

Ouma played in central midfield alongside captain Edward Thomas. The Kenyan international, who has made a season-long switch from Slavia Prague, showed his athleticism and power on a few occasions to muscle opposition off the ball.

The 22-year-old largely looked neat and tidy in possession although one misplaced pass in the attacking third led to a Wanderers counter-attack which saw Max Lott smash over from the right of the penalty area.