Charlton boss Jose Riga defended his decision not to start Ademola Lookman after the 0-0 draw with MK Dons tonight - but said he should have used him earlier.

The 18-year-old has only started two games for the Addicks in 2016 and once again operated as an impact substitute.

Lookman made an instant impact after coming on with ten minutes remaining, causing the MK defence plenty of problems down the left-wing.

The home crowd made it clear that they wanted to see the forward thrown on much sooner and Riga acknowledged it was a mistake not to utilise him earlier in the game.

“First of all I was thinking that every time Simon [Makienok] and Yaya [Sanogo] play together they did well, so I wanted to keep that association,” he said.

“After that it’s important to keep the right balance in the team because if we concede I am not sure that we will be able to score two goals.

“So I had two ideas in mind but I feel responsible because he has to be on the pitch earlier - certainly ten minutes before I needed to do the right thing.”

The Belgian gave the same reason when asked why Callum Harriott, Charlton’s match-winner at Brentford, was brought off shortly into the second-half.

In an uninspiring first half, the best chance fell to Dean Bowditch but the forward blasted over.

Little changed after the break although captain Jordan Cousins curled an effort narrowly wide, while Nick Pope kept out a powerful long-range strike.

Substitute Zakarya Bergdich delivered an inviting cross with 15 minutes remaining, but attacking duo Makienok and Sanogo were unable to connect.

Lookman caused chaos in the MK box after his late substitution but his efforts proved futile.

In fact, the visitors almost nicked the three points themselves when Samir Carruthers smashed over from eight yards.

To compound the Addicks’ misery, Arsenal loanee Sanogo was sent off in injury-time for elbowing Antony Kay.

Riga said he had not seen the incident which led to Sanogo’s dismissal but admitted it was the last thing the club needed in their dire situation.

He said: “I haven’t seen it but he apologised so I guess he did something.

“It’s part of the big frustration this season and the reaction isn’t good, that’s for sure.

“We don’t need this in our situation. I know we are all nervous about the situation of Charlton but we must master our situation.”

The result ensured Charlton have still not won a league game at home since November.

Riga, 58, admitted his side’s performance was not good enough as they failed to build on the fine victory at Griffin Park.

He added: “We were expecting more from this game.

“I didn’t see what I was expecting or wanted. First of all a win, this was the most important from the game because the gap is now big.

“We knew what we had to do but we didn’t do enough. We had little opportunities but the opposition can say the same.

“The last quarter we did well – put pressure on them, but sometimes it’s enough, sometimes not.

“It’s not what we were looking for.”