DOBSON GRABS DERBY WINNER

DEAN Holden saluted a solid defensive display from Charlton as they dished out an early defeat for promoted Leyton Orient.

- Richard Davis

The game at a rainy Valley was settled by a first-half strike from captain George Dobson.

Holden was pleased his outfit put in a good performance in front of a bumper home crowd and believed his side could have scored more goals.

He said: “There’s a lot of expectation of supporters turning up with a lot of optimism.

“We started really well, we started with intent, we ran all over Leyton Orient.

“They’re a team who have obviously had a lot of success winning the League Two title last year, playing a certain style.

“They wanted to play on their terms at times, so we needed to get on top of them and force mistakes, which we did.

“We should have won more comfortably, but we looked more solid defensively, which was a bit of a concern last week in the pre-season against Aberdeen.

“We had a lot of work to do in the week, but credit to the players for taking that on board.”