Colchester United manager Joe Dunne says he had to make attacking substitutions during his side’s Capital One Cup defeat at Charlton Athletic.

The U’s boss was forced to make changes midway through the first half, after Magnus Okuonghae was dismissed for denying a goalscoring opportunity.

Dunne opted against sending on young defender Frankie Kent following Okuonghae’s red card, instead bringing on Marcus Bean and switching Alex Gilbey to centre-back.

He was robbed of the services of Josh Thompson, after the former Celtic defender suffered a hamstring injury in the warm-up prior to the U’s 4-0 first-round defeat at the Valley.

Dunne said: “If I’m going to lose a game, I’m going to lose a game going for it.

“The cruel thing would have been if we’d have sat back and lost it that way.

“It was a cup game and you don’t get anything for a draw.

“We still tried to move the ball around with ten men, which was pleasing.

“I felt we had enough possession to stick another striker up there and get chances.

“But we conceded a second goal at a crucial period of the game.

“Frankie was unlucky (not to come on).

“But Alex has played their pre-season for us and I wanted to get extra strikers on the pitch.

“Alex was excellent and I thought both him and Tom (Eastman) were outstanding.

“The back four really had to work hard and I thought generally, they did fine.

“4-0 was harsh and the fourth goal summed it up but great credit to the players, because they put a shift in.”

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