Charlton Athletic coach Mitch Garrett says the competitive nature of the SuperCupNI tournament is the perfect platform for his young side to keep developing their game.

He made the comments after their side played out an entertaining 1-1 draw against fellow London side West Ham United at the Coleraine Showgrounds.

Athletic took the lead inside the opening minute when Theo Birdsall made no mistake with an emphatic finish inside the box.

However, their early joy was cut short when defender Keon Humes-Daniel received a red card for a last man tackle inside the penalty area, which resulted in the Hammers being awarded a spot kick.

placeholder image — Charlton Athletic and West Ham United played out a 1-1 draw at SuperCupNI, (Photo: Dylan Kirkpatrick)

But West Ham’s Roni Abazi missed the chance to equalise from 12 yards as his penalty came back off the crossbar.

Despite continuing to hold the narrow advantage, Charlton were breached a minute before the end when a corner kick delivery was on the money for Henri Gjoka to head home from close range as the contest finished 1-1.

“It's a tough one to take,” Garrett said after the game.

"We were 1-0 up for quite a lot of the game with ten men and then they scored a set-piece at the end.

"It's hard when you have to defend so long but that's football.

"I just said to the lads inside, there's so much learning there for them in terms of the competitiveness and doing jobs and understanding roles.

"It's so hard when you've got a man down, unfairly or not, I don't know, but yes, it's so hard for them but there's so much learning that they can take from it.”

Charlton are long-time attendees of SuperCupNI and Garrett explained the reasons why the Addicks continue to make the journey across the Irish Sea.

"It's just a great tournament...it's just brilliant,” he explained.

"I think every year we come and we compete and it's good for the lads.

"We definitely notice when we get home the difference in them, but it’s not only the football, but it's the stuff away from it where they've got the downtime and they get to do their man stuff.

"The tournament means they can be together and it's just good all round for them.”

After playing St Patrick’s Athletic and West Ham United so far, Charlton finish their group campaign on Wednesday against Co Fermanagh at Parker Avenue in Portrush.

So, what is Garrett expecting from that encounter?

He replied: “It's going to be tough, they're always physical, they're always in your face and they always try and play good football.

"We want to win, so wherever we get to, whether it's the cup or the bowl, wherever it might be, we want to go and win.

"But I think ultimately the biggest outcome for us is the competitiveness and getting the lads to really understand that coming away from home and playing loads of different teams is so hard.

"I just said to the boys as well, that West Ham are a good team. It's not like we've just played anyone as that's a real good team they’ve played against.”