Beardsley hails Charman after Saints brace

Charman was introduced just after the hour at Whitley Park on Tuesday afternoon, and his impact was immediate as he swept in the opener seconds after entering the fray.

His second goal five minutes from time sealed the 2-0 win and put United through, and football development manager Beardsley was delighted with the forward’s decisive contribution on his return from injury.

“For half an hour, I thought he was outstanding,” he told nufc.co.uk. “He never got frustrated, when in the past he has got frustrated and hasn’t passed the ball when he should have.

“But today, I would say he was almost faultless for half an hour. He scored two great goals, got into the corners, ran at people and passed to Sadio (Haidara), to Haris (Vuckic), to Dan (Barlaser). He did the right things and today, it looked as though everything just clicked for him.”

Charman’s double capped a dominant performance from United, but they had to wait until the second half to make the breakthrough after a first period in which they enjoyed plenty of possession but few clear-cut chances.

“I told them I was disappointed with the penetration, the (lack of) chances on goal, and we had to up the tempo,” said Beardsley. “We played some great football, but it’s about scoring goals, and I’m a bit of a perfectionist in that way. If you don’t shoot, you don’t score.

“To be fair to them, they did up the tempo, even before Luke came on. We looked more threatening, eventually they got the reward and in the end, won comfortably.

“0-0 would have done Southampton – we couldn’t have caught them (in the group) if it had finished 0-0. It was in our hands, and we knew that.

“I said to them, if you had a choice of having the last game at home needing to win to go through, you’d choose that. They’ve done that, done their job really well and they deserved it.”

Progression in the Premier League Cup means the Magpies are still fighting on two fronts this term, with a Premier League 2 Division Two play-off place well within reach.

Beardsley reckons the team’s togetherness and spirit is a key factor in what has been a season of progress for the under-23 side.

“What I would say is that when you have a group of 15, 16 players, it does make a difference. Big Tom (Heardman) will hopefully be back soon, Kyle Cameron’s been to Newport and been injured, but he won’t be far away. It’s a good group, no doubt about it,” he said.

“They are good players, and when you have good players you have a good team. You look at the spirit when the goals go in – everyone celebrates together, everyone is in it together as a team, encouraging each other. They’re a really good group to work with.”

And Beardsley reserved some praise, too, for goalkeeper Matz Sels, who kept a clean sheet against the Saints.

“Both Rob Elliot and Karl Darlow, when he’s played for us – they’ve all been outstanding characters for us. Matz has been amazing for us, and he didn’t really have a save to make today,” he said.

“But he’s a great lad, with a good attitude. He passed the ball for fun, and was a good example to the kids.”