Nathan Jones labelled Charlton Athletic’s 5-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup as “absolutely disastrous”.
The Addicks boss made 10 changes from the side that picked up an impressive derby win at West Ham United at the weekend.
The aim was clearly to give minutes to some other players in his squad but also factoring in they are back in Championship action against Preston North End on Saturday afternoon.
Jones was forced into two changes as early as the 15th minute with Collins Sichenje and Billy Koumetio, the only one to retain his place from the victory over the Hammers, coming off at the same time.
Sichenje damaged his left knee really early on. Initially he carried on after requiring treatment but did not last long. Koumetio, impressive since his transfer from Dundee this summer, had a hamstring issue. They were replaced by Lloyd Jones and Danny McNamara.
Mikey Moore and Dominic Solanke scored just before half-time to put Spurs in control of the tie.
Kevin Danso headed a third, just second after coming on as a substitute. Savio, making his debut following a £60million move from Manchester City, guided home a fourth shortly after replacing Solanke.
Tottenham had a fifth goal in the 85th minute, Savio’s shot clipping off Ben Davies on the way past Tiernan Brooks, making his debut.
Charlton did manage a consolation when Lloyd Jones headed in from Joe Rankin-Costello’s corner. It was the centre-back’s third goal of the season and he has scored in every game since the EFL Cup opener at Cheltenham.
Collins Sichenje is stretchered off/Picture: Kyle Andrews
“It is a pretty disastrous night for us,” said Addicks boss Jones. “Not the result, or going out of the cup, but the injuries we picked up. To lose three centre-halves, we lost Reece Burke the other day, that is the difficult thing.
“When you come up against Premier League sides now they are difficult animals, physically strong and how they play. It is very difficult to create an upset. What we have to do is concentrate on the Championship – but that’s really caused us an issue now.
“We are not going to win this competition. Were we going to win tonight? Was an upset on the cards? It’s very hard to beat Premier League sides now. It’s not like the olden days where it was a dodgy pitch, the rain hammers down and you can get in and amongst them. These are billion pound squads now.
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