Lee Bowyer was left scratching his head after his side crashed out of the EFL Cup on penalties by Forrest Green.

The Addicks boss admitted he was disappointed with the performance which saw Jake Forster-Cakey miss a second half penalty and a number of less than flattering displays from his men.

Bowyer, true to his word, gave new signings, those returning from injury, youth and fringe players an opportunity to stake a claim to start regularly.

Fielding a whole new starting XI to that which started in the league against Stoke on Saturday, the manager admitted very few left the field with a positive review.

“I see them every day and know how good they are, but today they weren’t on it,” a frustrated Bowyer said.

“They were too lackadaisical, just weren’t on it.

“They had a good opportunity tonight, the side we put out was capable of winning, and should’ve won.

“I want them to have the attitude of ‘I want to be the best player on the park tonight,’ I want them to show me they want to play on Saturday and want to grab their opportunity, but for one reason I don’t think they did that tonight.

“That’s the disappointing thing for me.”

In a much changed XI, new signings Ben Amos, Sam Field, Chuks Aneke, Macauley Bonne, and Deji Olishaja all made competitive starts for the Addicks, whilst Naby Sarr, George Lapslie and Forster-Caskey returned after being dropped for Saturday’s win.

“The pros are that nobody got injured,” the manager continued.

“Some players got good minutes. Chuks, he needed it, he came through unscathed.

“Sam you can tell he’s a bit rusty, lacking sharpness and fitness, but he did some good things.

“Jake, you can tell he’s been out a long time, so it was good he got 90 mins into him.

“Ben the keeper done well, and Naby done well.

“They were the two players that looked me in the eye and said, ‘I did well.’

“The rest of them I don’t think they did well enough.”