Development Squad Manager Jon De Souza said he was annoyed and disappointed that his young Brentford team did not work as hard as Charlton Athletic as they were beaten 5-1 by the Championship side in their latest Under-21 Professional Development League game.

The Bees were beaten in South East London yesterday as Charlton striker Ade Azeez scored a hat-trick.

Brentford fell 5-0 behind early in the second half but improved in the final half hour and Charlie Adams pulled one back.

Jon, speaking to Bees Player after the final whistle, had no complaints with the score line and was unhappy with his players.

“I think overall 5-1 was probably the right result,” he said.

“We got better as the game went on but overall they were a lot better than us.

“They had several chances to make it more.

“It was a fair result.

“I don’t think we worked hard enough.

“There were players in their team that were good First Team players.

“The centre half [Dorian Dervite] has been at Tottenham Hotspur and the centre forward [Yann Kermorgant, who scored the fifth goal,] played in The Championship for Leicester City.

“There are one or two others and they were an older team than us.

“When you play against teams like that you expect to match them at least for work rate.

“I was disappointed that their senior pros worked harder than our young players.

“That annoyed me.

“Normally we press high and take the ball off the opposition.

“They worked extremely hard to stop us playing and they were successful in doing so.

“We let them play and didn’t make them earn what they did.

“We could have moved the ball quicker; we had to earn every pass.

“We wanted too many touches.”

Brentford ended the game with two players from the Under-16 squad on the pitch and three members of the Youth Team with them, two of which are First Year Scholars.

Jon said he was encouraged by the way his team ended the game but admitted Charlton may have eased off.

He said he would not offer the age of his team as an excuse for the result and Brentford’s youngsters had to reach the level of Charlton’s older players.

“When you are 5-0 up you take your foot off the gas,” said Jon.

“The last half an hour was encouraging but they may have got complacent.

“A few of the youngsters that came on did OK.

“There is a big age gap between the teams but I believe when you walk on the pitch every player has the right to be there.

“We wouldn’t pick them if we didn’t think they were good enough.

“We need to get our players good enough to play against whoever they are against.

“Saying we had Youth Team players and Under-16s against First Team players is not an excuse.

“Our numbers have been low.

“Jake Reeves has gone to AFC Wimbledon on loan.

“Emmanuel Oyeleke and Antonio German are with the First Team and Leon Redwood is injured.

“They are key to the group but that should give young players a chance.”

Brentford went in to the game sitting third in the Under-21 Professional Development League Two South, two points behind Charlton and league leaders Bristol City.

They had won five of their previous six in the league and also beat Staines Lammas in the Middlesex County Senior Charity Cup.

“We have played, if you include friendlies and cup games, eight games recently and won seven and drawn one,” said Jon.

“Even now it is one defeat in nine with seven wins.

“That is a good achievement.

“There will be a few home truths after this.

“I expect a reaction in training and then against Barnet next week.

“Results like this should whet the appetite to work harder and get better.”

Bees Player subscribers can see a full video interview with Jon De Souza here.